The other day was just another typical Friday night. My roommate and I were just hanging out. That’s when we started talking about how much we’ve changed since freshman year. We’ve been friends since freshman year, and now as seniors, I think it’s fair to say that the fact we’re still friends is a bit shocking. We’re not just friends, we’re best friends. The fact that we met as 18 year olds in the middle of nowhere small town Ohio and managed to remain in contact with each other is an accomplishment.
I think back to high school from time to time, and while I know so many people who have remained close with a large majority of their friends from high school, I can’t say that’s also been true for me. I still have one close friend from high school. We manage to talk every single day even though we see each other once, maybe twice, a year. She’s like a sister to me.
The relationships I had with people in high school helped me become who I am today. The same goes for the relationships I had with people I met while in college. I am by no means the same girl I was freshman year. As I look back at that girl, I feel like she’s almost a stranger. If not for my friends, I don’t know if I could say I love the person I am today.
College is an incredible hard time, especially if you’re a student who’s decided to go away (or out of state) for college. You’re away from home, away from people you knew so well, away from places that were familiar to you… All of a sudden, you find yourself in a new place, surrounded by new people, and you’re vulnerable in a way you haven’t ever been before. You have to figure out how to make this new place home, and you meet quite a lot of people along the way, but there are only a few that stick with you as you try so hard to make it through those four years. These few are the ones you find around yourself as you change. Why are they around? Who knows.
Friendship is so strange. Without our friends, would we ever be comfortable being ourselves? Would we ever figure out who we are? Or even who we want to be?
For me, my best friends are the ones who stayed even though I’ve changed so much over these past few years. They’re the ones who helped make this campus feel like home. They helped me feel confident about the person I’ve become.
Isn’t it crazy how much things can change but you can still somehow manage to be yourself and keep your friends close?