What are the odds of two families who do not know each other having not one, but TWO children paired as roommates at colleges hundreds of miles apart?
Ask Mitch Smolow of Shavertown, Pa., and he will admit the chances are slim, but not impossible.
Smolow was recently surprised to learn that his son, Alec, will room this fall with Mark Przyuski of Gilmoore, Pa.. Both are incoming freshmen at West Virginia University and were randomly matched by WVU Housing. Nothing unusual about that, but now the rest of the story
Alec has been e-mailing Mark, his future roommate at WVU ,Smolow wrote in an e-mail to WVU officials.Mark tried to call Alec, but got the answering machine, leaving his name and number. Maret (Smolows daughter) listened to the message and said that Marks last name sounded similar to her roommates last name.
Mitch Smolow says they then looked at the WVU housing assignment letter and the names were spelled the same.
Next, Maret looked at her class photo book which lists hometowns, and sure enough, both roommates have the same hometown,he wrote.As I am sure you have guessed by now, sister and sister are roommates and brother and brother are roommates!
Maret Smolow and Katrin Przyuski attend Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., and will room together this fall at a sorority. They had met during the spring semester.
For the students, they are just excited about getting settled in at college with their new roommates, but admit the coincidence is quite unusual.
Its really interesting,Maret said.Im looking forward to talking to Katrin about it.
I havent talked to Mark about it (the coincidence) yet,Alec said,but it is kind of weird and bizarre.
The Smolows and the Przyuskis live more than 100 miles away from each other, but these two Pennsylvania families will be seeing a lot of each othergiven the unusual circumstances.
The parents are looking forward to meeting each othertwice!said Mitch Smolow.
And what about the chances of it happening again? Dont bet against it. Both families have younger children who one day could find themselves sharing a room at college.