When I first stepped foot on campus at Deviney Hall, I was ready to find my forever friends. I was always told that college friends are the ones that are true and lasting. Like many freshmen, I became friends with the people that lived on my floor. My freshman year was the biggest transition of my life, and I am glad I had the friends that I did while it lasted. However, there is something to be said about friendships that rely on proximity: they are out of convenience. Like the friends that we made in class in our adolescence, they may not be that deep, and that is okay. The friendships that are deep will become visible over time.
From what I have learned, college is not the answer to all our problems. It is so hyped up to be the best four years of our lives, but our life does not end after graduation. Life is a journey and the people we surround ourselves with will shape our experience. Maybe it isn’t as deep as I think, but for me, it is. I am a firm believer in all it takes is one. One friend to do nothing but be in each other’s presence and still have so much fun with is the best kind of friendship in my opinion.
Looking back, my hometown friends are still my best friends. I say all of this not to say that college friends are the worst or not true, but there are no one-size-fits-all friendships. Most of the friends we make throughout our lives will sadly come and go, but the ones who remain are true. We are social creatures who need to be in a community. Some students choose to participate in sports, Greek life, organizations, jobs, leadership, etcetera, no matter where we are, the experience is what we make of it. Every friend we have was once a stranger. Embracing the discomfort that comes with talking to new people is so necessary. You never know where a conversation with, for instance, a random on Landis Green will take you.
Believing the lie that the next milestone in life will be better, wasting away in the current one is not a way to live. If we go through life thinking the next thing will give us life only to find that we are still searching for more, we are not really living, but rather waiting to live. We are meant to be living now, not tomorrow or in a couple of years.
College should be fun, but no friends, major, or anything at FSU or anywhere else will fulfill our deepest needs. If the friends, the boyfriend, or the college did fulfill the need we have deep inside, we would be incredibly simple creatures. Still, experiencing life with others is so fun, and we are not meant to do life alone. College years should involve lovely friendships, but having such high expectations like your freshmen year roommate being your best friend will only put more pressure on you, which will only end in frustration. I have learned to be the friend I desire, and the deep FSU friendships I crave, take time. Friendships of any kind are such a blessing, the fun we have in these four years is not about the experiences, but rather the people we choose to go through them with.
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