College is where you are supposed to go and learn and figure out who you are as a person. However, you happen to find out that you get a little help along the way. In college, you are most likely going to make some of the most meaningful and long-lasting friends you could ask for. Your friends are going to be with you through thick and thin. Sometimes, you may even fall into new friend groups as you go through college, but no matter what, they are going to teach you a few things.
1. Never doubt your ability to achieve your dreams.
Everyone came to college with a goal in mind of what they wanted to do with their life. When I came to college, I wanted to go to film school, and I still have every intention of doing so. However, my friends have told me numerous times that I should never stop wanting more for myself. My friends are constantly pushing each other to want more, even if it is transferring to a school 1,000 miles away or planning on moving across the country post-graduation.
2. Be the best possible you that you can be.
As cliché as it sounds, friends that you make in college don't care about who you were in high school or how many guys you have dated. They want to know the real you, not what society wants of you or what you grew up having to say or do. If college is about finding yourself, your friends want to see you succeed in doing so, as well as you with them.
3. Accept yourself.
Everyone has issues that they come across with themselves. I am not invincible to that. One dear friend of mine once said, "Love yourself because you are the s*** and deserve everything that comes into your life." I truly believe that if everyone listens to that quote, then you will live a happy life.
4. Don't be afraid of what others will say.
I grew up constantly worrying about what others would be saying about me or what my family thought. That continued over into college. If I went out on a Friday night, I would make sure that I was making decisions that wouldn't be misconstrued. However, my friends have consistently encouraged me to do what makes me happy, and what other people have to say about it shouldn't matter, because college is all about making mistakes and learning from them.
5. Long distance friendships are the strongest.
In college, chances are that you are rarely going to make friends that are from your hometown. I, personally, have friends from Minnesota, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and many other places that make it hard to be with each other over the long-term breaks. But these friendships, I find, have been the easiest to keep, seeing as how you have to make time to talk to them, pay attention to the time zones and keep up to date on their lives by more than social media.
6. Freedom.
My friends taught me freedom. Freedom to make my own life decisions: Who to date, when to skip class, where to travel on long weekends, if I should eat that extra piece of cheesecake. My friends never try to suffocate me into a box that they think is best. They are willing to watch me make mistakes, and then, pick me up after and tell me it is all going to be okay.
7. How to love.
Last, but not least, my friends taught me how to love. They taught me how to care for someone like they are family and help them through every step of the way of college, all the while they are helping me, too. They taught me that love isn't just candy hearts and flowers. It is holding up someone's hair after their 21st birthday went too far. It is sitting on their bed watching musicals because they have had a bad day. It is listening to them rant for hours about the cute guy that was their barista at Starbucks. Your college friends become family and that is the best feeling you could ask for.
So to my college friends, I want to say thank you for teaching me these things. I don't know where I would be without each and every one of you. I love you all, and you are all blessings in my life.
