When I was a senior in high school, I was forced to choose between my top two colleges: Elmira and Roberts Wesleyan. I was torn. I had no idea how to choose. Mainly because I was positive I would pick the wrong college, and then I'd end up with the wrong friends in the wrong place and I'd be miserable and my whole life would be ruined.

I was a little dramatic, OK?

So when I picked Elmira College, I didn't have a whole lot of peace about it. I was so scared I picked the wrong school. But with my scholarship it was cheaper, and I'd met with a professor who seemed pretty cool, so I went for it. It turns out that it was the best decision of my life.

See, while you're at college, you meet people. And these people will change your life. I look back at little freshman me and think, "Man, who'd ever thought I'd be here?" My mind has expanded in every way. I thought I understood friendship in high school, but I had no idea. I thought I understood conflict, but I didn't have a clue. I've grown so much in four years, and it is all thanks to the people I met here.

Freshman year there was a group of six of us, and by senior year, the core still remains in our friendship (though it has shifted and changed a little). Our group has gotten bigger over the years, and our relationships with each other have grown stronger in some cases and not so much in others, but four years later we are all still friends.

What do I owe these people? What do you owe your people? It's a lot, isn't it? Like, I have to wonder—would I have taken a job tutoring if I hadn't spent freshman year editing papers for free? Would I have taken leadership positions in clubs if my friends hadn't pushed me to accept them? Would I have laughed so hard, or had so many insanely weird memories? Who would I be without them?

I'm glad I never have to find out.

College friends seriously change your life. For four years, they become your family. In my case, almost every year I lived in the same building with them. I didn't even have to put on shoes to visit. We ate meals together, had movie nights and game nights, went to club meetings, went shopping (not my fondest of memories...) and sat around talking about nothing and everything.

You have those memories, too. I know you do. I'll always remember going out at midnight for Mighty Kids meals, going on an adventure for pumpkin pie (traveling for a long time and never finding any...), not coloring a butterfly photo (which became a running joke in my life for four years, thanks so much Jess), having a picnic at the park, driving four hours on a week night to a concert and seeing army tanks on the way there, bowling at Rossi's for fundraisers, singing worship songs basically anywhere on campus, Sweet Frog nights (we used to have a lot of those during Finals week...), watching "She's the Man" because it was the only movie we could all agree on, doing homework in the hallway freshman year like weirdos... the list could literally never end. We really are a family.

Maybe I would have had a good experience at Roberts Wesleyan. In fact, I'm sure I would have. But I'm so grateful that this is the experience I ended up with, and that these are the friends I ended up with. The thought of not living down the hall from them next year is killing me, but I know that the bonds we made with each other are going to last. High school friendships fade with college, but I don't think college friendships fade with life (unless you let them).

So I want to say thank you to the people who changed my life—the people who, if I'm being totally honest, saved my life these last four years. I would not be the woman I am today without the friends who supported me all along the way, who pushed me to be better, who laughed with me (and at me) when the time was right, and who made me feel like I really mattered. Thank you guys for loving me, and for letting me love you. It's something I'll always take with me.

I love you guys!