I’ve never been the girl that had the life-long best friend. Growing up, I changed schools four times in 12 years. I know that’s not as much as some people, but it still made things difficult. It was difficult because I knew when I’d be leaving each school, so I never saw the point in becoming inseparable with anyone, because I knew the day would come that I was going to leave. Having a best friend like that would only make things so much harder than they already were.
Because I grew up that way, I didn’t think it would ever be easy for me to become close friends with anyone quickly… and then I came to college. I’ll admit, Friday of F.Y.I. weekend was awkward. I walked into my Pep Group not knowing a soul in the room, and not knowing how to talk to anyone. But by Sunday of that weekend, I had already created a lifelong bond with my two best friends in the world. You would’ve never known that we had just met only 48 hours before.
I met people through my friends, and I met people through clubs, activities, sports, games and even at the self-checkout in Walmart. I quickly learned a simple fact: college friends are like no other.
You bond so quickly over experiences because you’re all dealing with the same things on a daily basis. You have classes together, you study together, you eat together, you cry together, you go out together and you pull all nighters together. You experience all the highs and lows of each others lives. You celebrate the A’s and stress over the D’s. Going home for break becomes so difficult because in some cases, you know it means you won’t see each other, so you FaceTime every night of summer vacation.
If you pick the right ones, college friends turn to family. Quickly. Over the past three semesters, I’ve met people who will forever have an impact on my life and I wouldn’t trade a single one of them for the world. So to all of you, from my two oldest, West Tennessee-bred besties, to my newest from Michigan, thank you for making UT Martin truly feel like home. I love you all.