“Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and one is gold.”
I remember being eight years old standing in a circle with my best friends at the end of a Girl Scouts meeting, singing “Make New Friends,” without a care in the world. We had just become brownies, adorning our brand new brown vests proudly.
I didn’t quite understand what the song meant at the time, only being in third grade and having had the same friends since Kindergarten.
At that point in my life, the most difficult choice I ever had to make was whether to play on the swings or make a fairy house at recess. Every day, I would get home after school and play with my next-door-neighbor until dinnertime, giggling the whole time.
When people think of “girlhood,” it often entails images of sparkles and laughter, running around in the summertime and sharing secrets on the playground. It’s almost always associated with a faraway youth, never to be experienced again; only looked back on with a longing fondness.
It makes sense to associate girlhood with being a young kid, as the word was created as a mixture of the words “girl” and “childhood.” However, I feel that it means more than just youth, and is experienced by women everywhere, no matter their age.
Even when we enter “womanhood,” girlhood still remains within, always staying a small part of who we are. College is often thought of as the transition time between girlhood and womanhood, going from being an irresponsible kid to an independent adult.
However, as we make this transition, we have to remember to retain girlhood in our lives and not lose the magic of it. To me, the most integral aspect of girlhood is female friendships. Nothing compares to spending time with your older sister, who knows you inside out, or your best friend who knows exactly how to make you laugh the hardest.
Even though we’ve all grown older and lost and gained the people in our lives, friendship has been the enduring factor. Even though we’re not begging our moms to let us have a sleepover anymore, girlhood remains present in our lives.
Taking your friends out with you to grocery shop or inviting them over to your apartment to paint together are examples of how we still exist in a state of girlhood, even as adults. Keeping that connection is what keeps us rooted in our girlhood, whether we realize it or not.
Reclaiming unapologetic self-expression and fun helps us heal our inner child and reconnect with our girlhood even further. Letting ourselves engage in silly activities with friends like having fashion shows after shopping sprees or having dance parties after class allows us to bond with our inner girl.
As we grow and evolve as people, our friends provide the support that we need through every era of ourselves. At elementary age, our friends played tag with us and giggled about our crushes. At college age, our friends give us pep talks before midterm week and loan us clothes to go out that night.
Experiencing girlhood in college can be one of the most magical experiences. Finding joy in the ordinary moments, even as simple as grabbing lunch in the dining hall together, keeps us, as women, bonded together through girlhood.
Even though we are not technically girls any longer, we carry girlhood with us throughout our entire lives. As we continue to evolve through life, keeping our sense of girlhood and our friends around us is unbelievably important.
To me, girlhood means holding onto the little girl inside you while also working to grow into the woman you will become. Staying true to yourself and surrounding yourself with fun and friendship will allow you to become the best version of yourself.