When I was in high school everyone told me that college was where I’d find people just like me. I didn’t believe them. I started college and never thought I’d make any new friends.
Then I met my future roommate.
We sat together in our first ever college class. One morning she came into the room laughing to the point of tears. Between gasps of air, she said, “You have… to watch… this video.”
This girl that I hardly knew was out of breath and crying over a video of the Charmander evolutions dancing to Tik Tok by Ke$ha. That’s when I knew she was going to be my best friend.
Near the middle of the semester, we learned that my current roommate was moving home and that one of hers would be studying abroad, so I moved into her apartment.
Because we have the same major, our friendship initially grew through studying and a bond over our shared stress. Slowly she became my person to vent to simply because she was always around, ready to listen and take my side.
Then she became my go-to person for every event. Together we ran errands, went to $5 Friday’s at Smoothie King, went to concerts put on by our school’s music department, and even went to Winthrop University’s first Drag Show.
What started as one roommate movie night turned into a constant stream of Friends and Disney movies. We made a Roommate Bucket List and took small adventures to Windy Hill Orchard, Crowder’s Mountain, Food Truck Friday, Bald Rock, and Charleston. She even helped me make my first real snowman.
She effortlessly became my best friend, and when I went through formal sorority recruitment she became my sister.
Over our year and a half together she’s been far more patient with me than I deserve. She’s the most understanding person that I’ve ever met and the only person on the planet who’s willing to listen to me vent about the same problem every single day.
When people told me that I’d find my place in college I didn’t believe them, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. College brings you to the best friend you never thought you’d have. You’ll find people that will enhance your life and bring you to your fullest potential, whether they be roommates, sorority sisters, classmates, or colleagues. It may even be the person you sit beside on your first day of general Biology.
College is going to break your heart and test your limits, but you’re going to have people that make all of that okay. You’re going to find your best friend, and she’s going to be there for you through everything. She will support you through every heartbreak and every stressful day. She may even buy you lunch when you’ve broken, not one, but THREE mechanical pencils out of frustration. She’s going to reply to every “I’m going to fail” with “You’re going to make a 100.” If you’re lucky, she may even hate Ross Geller as much as you do.