Brother + romance = bromance

Having special nicknames for one another, at least two identical outfits, spending countless hours together  —one-on-one  — and spending 10 minutes describing the best scene from a shared favorite movie or television show, are not activities done with just anyone. If someone is experiencing these symptoms, he is indeed caught in a bromance.

A bromance is the "complicated love and affection shared by two straight males," according to urbandictionary.com

Freshman Marek Bush expressed his brotherly love for his best friend on campus, freshman and fellow basketball player Justin Strickland.

"Justin is a real cool dude," Bush said. "Outside of basketball, we just hang out and kick it as roommates. We've been to the movies a few times, we party together and all that good stuff."

Bush and Strickland have been friends since the summer of 2010. The two currently are roommates in Centennial Hall and plan to rent an apartment together off campus next year. They said they didn't know each other before coming to Truman, but because they both call the Kansas City area home, they instantly related to each other. Both said people always ask them if they knew each other before coming to Truman because of how quickly they became close friends.

"We met through the coaches because we both play on the basketball team here," Bush said. "They set us up to be roommates and we started emailing and talking to each other a little bit before we got here, and then got to school and just became better friends."

Strickland said he was nervous about having a horrible roommate experience, but was pleasantly surprised when he met Bush.

"Yea, Marek — that's my dude," he said. "I was nervous about coming up here rooming with some ‘Lame Leroy' or weirdo, but he's not that lame and he's not that weird and so it worked out. I wouldn't want to room with anyone else. And it's all love, ya know."

Bush and Strickland's love for one another isn't a secret. Graduate student and Bush's older sister, Elise, said she thinks the two have the perfect bromance and the fact that Strickland considers her his big sister — although they're not blood related — shows just how close the two really are.

"I think a bromance is two male friends who have each other's back," she said. "They tell each other the hard-to-hear truth that others sugarcoat, they give each other relationship, school and family advice. They are homies. To me, this is Justin and Marek."

Bush and Strickland aren't the only bromantic pair on campus. Alumni Gave Landau and senior Ryan Robinson share a bromance that lasts beyond college.

This pair shares the same love for one another. Landau and Robinson played on the basketball team together their freshman year and have been attached at the hip since. Landau said Robinson is without a doubt his best friend at Truman. When asked what his definition of a bromance is, Landau described it as always having someone to relax and have a beer with after a long week.

"We live together, so we spend a lot of time together," he said. "We watch a lot of South Park, so I guess you can say that's one of our favorite things to do together."

Landau and Robinson both are from the Chicago area and they said they'll be sure to keep in touch after leaving Kirksville. Landau said they have talked about opening a bar together, which would be the perfect way to maintain their bromance.

Landau's girlfriend, Chelsea Kiser, said the two are extremely close. She said she thinks Landau and Robinson work well together as best friends.

"If there are any two males who can squeeze into a one room apartment sleeping head-to-foot with a dog, a girlfriend, bad plumbing and make it work, it's Gabe and Shrek [Robinson]," she said. "They have the perfect bromance."