I am so lucky to be able to say that I have found my people, my best friends.
Life is hard in general, and finding a forever friendship is even harder. I have had my fair share of ups and downs with friendships, and I found that maintaining a healthy, constant relationship felt exhausting at times. I would often struggle with feeling like my friends and I “clicked”.
I ended up making the decision, which at the time felt life-altering, to transfer to a different university. I was nervous to be in a new place with unfamiliar faces. I faced both the excitement of the potential experiences and opportunities that would come, while still being scared of a completely new environment.
Within the first couple of days of moving into a new apartment with complete strangers, I was greeted with nothing but love, laughter, and kindness. I knew within a couple hours of interaction that I had met amazing people that would soon become my best friends.
Ever since then, we quickly became close friends, learning everything that we could about each other. From spending hours rotting on couches to Sunday brunches, we became closely bonded, and I would often spend more time with my friends than anyone else. Their presence and support shows me what friendships are truly supposed to be like: being there for each other, no matter what.
With other complicated relationships in my life, I turn to my friends, and they are always there for me. I will always remember one specific moment talking with my friends, and something that always stuck with me was when my friend said something to the effect of “it doesn’t matter about the people in your past, but you can choose to surround yourself with your chosen family.” That has always stuck in the back of my mind, and I am so happy to have friends that I can call family.
Now, looking at the future, it is impossible to know what is going to happen. Our different dreams will take us in different directions, that is for certain. However, I will always remember the endless times spent getting ready together, sitting and talking for hours on patios, and trying to guess the daily trivia at our local go-to coffee shop. Although we still sometimes bicker like siblings, those memories will never leave me, and I hope to continue to create many more memories forever.