Lately, people have been asking me for advice for their sons and daughters going to college for the first time. I usually say the same thing about how this is going to be the greatest time of their life, but I never realized why college has been the best time of my life until now.

I have the greatest friends any girl my age could ever ask for. Friendships come and go no matter how old you are. If you look to see who your best friend was in elementary school to now, you can see how many friendships you have had throughout the years. You might feel sad because sometimes you don’t really understand how someone who was your best friend is now a stranger, but you will find someone who will always be there for you no matter how far you might stray from one another when you are in college.

I personally know I have had countless numbers of best friends, but it was not until I was in college where I found my two best friends that I know I can count on for everything. If I had to give advice to an incoming freshman, I would tell them to find a person who you can be weird with, eat unhealthy amounts of pizza with, and who doesn't judge you for all the nights where the alcohol might have clouded your judgement.

There were quite a few of kids coming from high school with me to Eastern Washington University, but it wasn’t my best friend that I had taken on high school with. I was basically starting over with friends while going to Eastern and that was the scariest thing I could ever imagine. I had remained in the same school district my entire life with friends who were always there.

When I first arrived at Eastern, my roommate and I never really met eye to eye, so I thought the best thing for me was to get a room change as soon as I could. Getting a room change was the best thing I have ever done while at Eastern. If you don’t really get along with your roommate during the first week, I highly recommend talking to your Community Advisor or Resident Advisor about switching. You might find your best friend just like I did.

I moved three doors down into my new room. Thankfully my new roommate couldn’t buy out the entire room and didn’t want to get stuck with a weirdo, so she asked me if I wanted to move in; she still didn’t know the real me yet. At first, I was nervous moving into another room where I really didn’t know my roommate because the first time was a bad experience. Luckily, I never had someone make me feel so comfortable in my life. You never saw us apart after the first month, thankfully her boyfriend didn’t mind if I third wheeled all the time. This is where I found two best friends in college. They basically became my parents because my freshman self needed some guidance 90 percent of the time. They were always there for me no matter what I had gotten myself into. I’ve always had someone to dance the Wop with me even though we are terrible at it or someone to go get McDonalds with for the third time that week. I have never felt alone at college because I always had someone to call and do nothing with.

Going into my junior year at college, these two are still my people. I do everything with them and instead of me being the third wheel, we became the greatest friends anyone could ask for. I couldn’t imagine my college career without them. They have always been there for me, even when I thought I could handle college without them.

I realized my last two years at Eastern that you need people to take on life with because no matter what you think, you can’t do it on your own. You need those who are going to be silly with you, make a biker gang, or whatever you guys think of. Now when someone asks me for advice about college, I tell them to find a couple best friends and take on college day by day.

College will be some of the best moments in your life, but it will be better when you have someone to share all your memories with.