I remember my first night as a college freshman like it was yesterday. Overwhelmed by the scattered, half-empty boxes sprawled over my tile floor, I went in blind to the first night of what would become the best years of my life thus far.
I remember everything.
I remember the first moments of meeting the 11 girls who would soon change my life for the better. I can visualize the exact outfits that we donned our first weeks as freshman together. Embellishing ourselves to an unnecessary extent, we took on college as a tight knit group.
Similar to how sorority girls consider their “sisters” as their real sisters, I consider my friends as such too.
We went from brief small talk in the hallways of our dorm to all night discussions about our dreams and desires. In the past three years, my college girlfriends have taught me more about myself than I could have ever hoped for.
Living every waking moment with one another, sprawling over the large tables in the dining hall, piling into insufficiently sized taxi-cabs, and sleeping in close quarters have indeed turned us from friends to family.
As I enter my senior year I have found myself endlessly reviewing all of the irreplaceable moments of the last three years. What would I have possibly done without these amazing girls? Who would give the hours of unprecedented advice? Who would look out for my best interests?
Considering these questions, I realized that I could not have found a better group suited for me.
It’s very rare that freshman friends stay as close as we have. Every so often people will ask me, “Who are you planning to live with this year?” My response has never changed. “The girls I lived with freshman year,” I say with a smile. Parents, peers, and friends from my youth find it surprising that we have stayed so close and loyal to each other since the first days of our college careers.
However, as expected locations change, boyfriends come and go, school work hits an all-time high and college life can feel like it’s imploding on you. That’s why it is imperative to find friends that can help you through it all.
Fortunately for me, my friends never wavered. Even when some of us became RAs, others got consumed by school work, labs, and jobs, and some began to scatter into off-campus housing, we remained as close as we did when we first met.
We’ve laughed, cried, and loved together. We grew from the doe-eyed, freshman girls we once were to the confident, decisive women that we are today.
We’ve longed for each other over the lengthy summer breaks, and waited impatiently for each fall’s reunion.
As we approach the final fall semester, this reunion will be bittersweet for sure. Knowing that this is our last year living together in the place we’ve called home will make every laugh, cry, and smile more meaningful than those before.
I don’t want to take one moment for granted. I want to soak up every last ounce of our college lives and cherish my friends before we scatter to different places with different people in search of dreams and jobs.
It is essential that my darling friends know just how much they mean to me. Each and every one of these women expresses individuality and creativity that have inspired me to be the best person I can possibly be.
They’ve helped me up when I’ve fallen down (literally and figuratively), pushed me to go beyond my comfort zone, cherished my insecurities, and have accepted and loved me for the person that I am.
I would be utterly lost without them, and I am forever indebted to their love and support. Let’s make senior year the year to remember.
