As I have grown older, I have truly realized just how powerful the friendships in your life can be. While I feel as though I have always held my friendships close to my heart, experiencing high school, and, recently, my freshman year of college, has made me realize just how important it is to have friends close by while you tackle life head on. More specifically, I am a firm believer in the power and importance of women having strong female friendships. Growing up with no sisters, I turned to the female friendships in my life to fill that role; I was lucky enough to form friendships in high school who are like sisters to me.
Going to an all-girls high school, we were taught to be empowered by and truly cared for by our fellow classmates. Now, a year removed from my graduation, I definitely see that empowerment and care within my female friendships from home. Having sisters in these girls allowed me to journey through the ups and downs of high school, moments of grief, triumphs, and disappointments. Thus, I came to college with a firm perspective of just how important these relationships are in my life.
I am beyond lucky to say that I have made solid female friendships in college, too, and my friends here on the Hill are too like my sisters. During a challenging time like the transition to college, and in a society where uplifting fellow women is a major need, the importance of having friends close by to be shoulders to cry on and faces to laugh with cannot be underscored enough. Not only do I see the importance of female friendships in my own life, but I see it in society, too. In the age of intense competition on social media and steadily increasing superficial pressure on young women, seeing examples of genuine and caring relationships helps to uplift the next generation of young women and combat these societal issues.
So, hug your girls today, and never forget the importance of quality friendship and sisterhood in your life, no matter how many years pass by.