Senior year of high school, you couldn’t wait to go to college to make cool, sophisticated college friends, and leave all of the drama and cliques behind. Then, it was freshman year of college, your roommate turned out to be a psycho, and the only person who made an effort to get to know you was the RA. Suddenly, you find yourself sitting alone in Math 101, and everyone else seems as if they know each other. Wait, how did this happen? I forgot how to make friends.
The difference between high school friends and college friends is a great one. In high school, you don’t really have a say when it comes to the friend-pool selection because the people in your classes are the people you’ve known since elementary school. So, you pick the best of a bad bunch, maybe join a couple sports, and call it good. After countless fights and years of sticking by each other through the strange, melodramatic sitcom we call “high school,” you start to ask yourself, “If we met today, would we be friends now?”
Eventually, you start to get deeper into classes for your major, you join clubs, intramural sports, or Greek life, and you start to make friends. This time, your friends are based on similar interests and outlooks you have on life. You even find yourself saying, “I feel like I’ve known you for longer than I have,” or “I’ve become closer with you than I have with anyone that I’ve known for years.” Why is this? We would like to believe it’s because your new friendships have real substance and a deeper connection rather than, “We’re both dating someone on the varsity football team.”
Of course, your high school friends will always have a special place in your heart, but it’s something about your college friendships, which makes you realize, “Hey, maybe I am finding myself.” The expression, “Find yourself,” is downright gag-able, but we cannot deny that the friendships we make depend entirely on who we want in our lives and why we want them there. Sure, there will be similarities you find between your high school BFF and your college BFF, but there will be significant differences you will find that you reflect back onto yourself.
As a senior, graduating this May (don’t remind me), I’ve had four otherworldly but excellent years under my belt, which qualifies me to write on the subject of friendships in college. While recently talking with friends about the book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, I thought, “There’s definitely five different types of people you meet in college that guide you on your wild ride, and without them, you may not have survived.”
The 5 Friends You Meet in College
1. The Up For Anything, Party Buddy: You can always depend on this person to almost literally drop everything and go. They are spontaneous, always up for a good time, and the perfect wingman/wingwoman for any night out. This is the first name that pops in your head when you get invited to a social gathering, even if the crowd is a little less than unusual. This is also the first person you call to sit with you through a theatre performance that your communications professor is making you attend.
2. The Study Buddy: This person has the same study habits as you, the same drive for the future, and their grades pretty much match yours to a tee. You can count on this person to stay in with you on a Saturday night to study for a final exam, when everyone else is going out. This person will do what they say they’re going to do, and you never have to worry about their work being anything less than quality, because you are the same way!
3. The Inspiration Leader: This person is always making you feel better. They look on the bright side and talk you down when you’re having your quarter-life crisis. This is the person that will sit down and talk out anything, whether it’s family problems, money problems, too many papers to write, or if you just can’t handle life at the moment. They remind you to be on top of things, like registering for classes, creating resumes, or how to fill out your W2 forms (what are those again?). They’re almost like a mom away from home, but this mom you can tell all of your dirty secrets to.
4. The Soul Mate: Different than your high school BFF, this person understands you on all levels. They know you from top to bottom, and inside out. They share your same weird humor, peculiar interests, celebrity obsessions, dedication to TV shows, sarcasm, and outlook on life. You knew it within the first 20 minutes of meeting this person, they just get it. One major quality that sets this friendship aside from all others; you don’t have to talk to this person every day to know that you’re friends. You spend long periods of time a part, and when you get together it’s as if not a second passed by. Even if the future hurdles you two to two different countries, you just know this person will always be there. You have that strange feeling that you two will be friends forever without having to say it, so go ahead and buy those BFF necklaces.
5. The Veg-Head: This is one of the most relaxed and most comfortable friends to be around. They are down to stay in and watch all eight Harry Potter movies… in a row. They will stay up late and pull all-nighters with you without a question. This is the easiest person to talk out of going out, and will never bail on you if they say they will stay in. If you’re feeling sad, but you’re not necessarily sure why, you call this person and they will watch Netflix with you, no questions asked and you don’t have to talk about it!
Even though you might not have a friend that fits the descriptions exactly, a certain person definitely came to mind as you read through each one. Count yourself as lucky if you’ve found all of your five, and don’t feel discouraged if you haven’t. Certain individuals come into our lives when it’s right, and forcing friendships never works out. Appreciate those few close friends you have, and make sure you let them know how they have changed your life, and made it a little better.