What I thank my college family for.

This article is for you, because I hope everyone will find a college family like mine.

First I want to share what a couple of them believe a college family is.

"In my own experience, my college family is the best family I never asked for. I never asked for these kinds of friends. The kind that make you laugh uncontrollably, feel accepted and confident about yourself, and make you feel like you're a part of something. The kind of people that say "have you heard back from University?", but don't push anything you don't want to talk about or judge you. The kind that say "let's go eat", "you can do this", and "we can't wait to see you." The people that will FaceTime you until 3am working on that tedious history homework. The people that go eat between classes and when you choose to stay at school and do homework, they bring you breakfast. The kind that love you and are rooting for you. The kind that buy you chokers because they know you love chokers. The kind of people that make you smile and make your heart beam with happiness when you are around them. The kind of people you would do anything for. Absolutely anything. My college family loves me and I love them. I never question our friendship because I know it's pure and strong. I never asked for them. I never knew these kinds of friends could exist, but oh my goodness...I am beyond grateful that they do".

- Maddy G.

“My definition of a college family would be people who love you as much or close to as your family would, making you miss home less, you feel comfortable around them, they have your back no matter what, they help you emotionally and educationally wise”.

- Maria P.

“To me a college family is made up of those individuals that make the struggles worth it. Those who have seen you at your best, but also at your worst. And yet they stay by your side. They push you forward when you want to run away from your problems. They build you. They believe in you. They listen. When no one else will. They know and understand what is happening in your life more than parents do sometimes because they are experiencing the same things you are. These people are those who you can call at any time of day or night when you need someone to talk to. They are the people who you can always depend on to help guide you when you feel lost. They are the people who are always down for anything. Late nights of fun, doing the most random things without thinking twice. They are the ones who are always down for good food and laughter. They are the people who you love to be around and make you laugh and cry like no one else can. These people are family. People who you would take a bullet for. People who you would do anything to see smile”.

- Sergio G.

Thank You For…

1.Making me a better person.

If there is one thing that I love about y’all, is this. College challenges you, and it changes you. I know I have changed, I see it in myself. I have become a stronger, open minded person; and a lot of that I owe it to you. You have challenged me to always be better and give more than I think I ever could.

2. Supporting me.

There is nothing better than knowing there is a group of people that are supportive of everything you want to do. And call you to tell you how smart and brilliant you are, and to tell you, you can do anything you want. And that if things don’t go the way you wanted them to it is okay, because they won't leave you.

3. Letting mebe a “mom”.

For a long time, I’ve had these characteristics, but in college these got heightened. You’ve taught me to be more loving and caring than I can say I already am. You’ve taught me that it can be 1 am and I’ll stay up making sure I get the “I’m home” text from you. I hope I never nagged y’all too much, just know I do it because I love you.

4.Letting me encourage you.

Thank you for letting me be your fan! If there is anything I love, is that I can encourage you to be more than you think just like you do for me. We build each other up and root each other on.

5.All of the food runs.

Do I really have to add to this?

6.The "almost" near death experiences.

For this one all I can say is to never trust a GPS 100%, maybe turning “Left” is not the best thing to do.

7.Coming to me when you need help.

I don’t care if I’m asleep at 2am or doing laundry at school if you need me I am here. So, thank you for coming to me when you need me. I will always be here.

8.All of the FaceTime calls.

This one is special, because moving away from you guys has been hell. So, all the FaceTime calls are memories I will treasure forever.

Life has a funny way of bringing all sorts of people together. God knows that there are many reasons why you need all of the people that walk into your life. So, I am thankful we all walked into each others lives. We live in the present and we do not judge our past. We have encouraged each other to grow and strive. We have picked each other up from the lowest we have been. We've gone the extra mile to see each other happy. Being away from you has been at times impossible and heart breaking. Yet, the love we have for each other keeps us together. One day I will have children, I will tell them stories about our adventures, and they will call you "auntie" or "uncle". They will have multiple people to look up to and say "if they can make a difference in one life, I can too"; because that is exactly what you have done, you have made a difference in my life.

Even though these are just 8 things I thank you for, I want you to know there is so much more I thank you for and there are not enough words to say thank you.

P.S. I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK.