From the day I watched Cinderella, I have always dreamed of growing up and finding my prince charming. The first board I made on Pinterest was a (private) wedding board.

To say that I am excited to meet the “love of my life,” get married, eat toast with this man in our jammies, have kids, and fingers crossed grow old together, would be a very underwhelming word to describe how I feel.

After experiencing my first year in college, I didn’t meet this man (at least that I know of, please contact if you are aware).

I wasn’t swept off my feet when I walked into my first class and made eye contact with “the one,” but I did meet my soul mates—not in the way I thought I would.

I met the ones who can make me laugh until my stomach burns.

I met the ones who will drive 50 miles just to celebrate my birthday for a few hours.

I met the ones who will lay in my bed with me while I cry because something tragic happened (or a Grey’s character died).

I met the ones who make weird noises and let me sing at the top of my lungs without wanting to puncture my lungs.

I met the ones who will tell me when I am being absurd when I try to join 50 clubs or am chatting to loud.

I met the ones who say the exact same thing as me at the same time because we are 90 percent sure we have the same brain.

I met my soul mates.

Cheesy. Right?

But it is true.

I discovered that I don’t need this fairytale, princess life that has been instilled in me since I was three. Yes, it would be swell if I could come home to an incredible human being at night, but that isn’t what matters. What matters is finding the ones who keep you sane.

That is what a soul mate is, the one, prince charming, and however else you would describe it. It is the ones who are there for you at 2 a.m. when the world is crashing down around you.

The moment you realize that you don't need a man is quite freeing. I'm not saying this in a "I'm so bitter" way, but more in a "I don't care" way.

Soulmates are friends, not some romantic idea that lives in your imagination.

Having a boyfriend is great and amazing, but don’t ditch the ones who would drop everything to pick you up from the airport. Those are the ones to keep around.

I walked into college *kind of * thinking I would find the one and will walk out with multiple soul mates. How lucky am I that I haven’t found my prince charming, I found a whole slew of Disney characters to help me clean up my life.