Karl Kowallis

Meeting a new roommate

In 1998 I graduated from BYU and was preparing to attend MIT in the fall. In my housing search I was lucky to locate a person named Suzette that had an opening in her condo because a previous roommate had moved out. Besides Suzette there was another guy living there and all were LDS and both had gone to BYU. I tentatively agreed to move in location and roommates unseen.

In preparing for the move, I had to think if living with a girl would be an issue. I had a younger sister that I had grown up with, and Suzette was a few years older than I so I didn't think it would necessarily be an issue. In my head I also thought about the situation a bit. Suzette was a few years older than I was. She'd been on a mission. She's graduated from BYU. To my knowledge she didn't have a boyfriend. My analytic conclusion was she must be unattractive.

I arrived late on a Friday afternoon. I rang the bell and Suzette came down the stairs. When she opened the door I was a bit surprised to say the least. She was dressed to go out dancing at a club and was in all black. My thought, which I don't think I said at the time, but which I later told Suzette, was “You are not fat!” To get the right impression, you have to say “You are not fat,” with a bit of awe and with an unspoken wow.

Palmyra Vacation

While I was in the midst of my graduate research I was horribly depressed. My experiments were not going well and I was feeling quite the failure. I'm sure both Mark and Suzette had noticed my mood. On a Friday when I got home from school Mark and Suzette were preparing to go on a vacation and they were having me come along to Palmyra, NY. I don't remember many details but the trip cheered me up immensely and reminded me what great friends and roommates I had.