Disney World is known as the most magical place on earth. Me and my seven best girlfriends can't argue with that. After all, that is where our unbreakable bond began.
Once upon a time, in a magical place, known as Disney World, there were eight girls ready to be bound by friendship.
We were all apart of the fine arts division in our high school and had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform in and explore the wonderful world of Disney.
As someone who had never been to Disney World, or barely stepped out of Illinois before, I had no idea what to expect.
From performing in the humid 90 degree weather to getting down poured on at the Magic Kingdom, I wouldn't have wanted to experienced Disney World with anyone else.
Some of us had already been friends before, but as a junior in high school, I didn't really know where I belonged.
Five days in Disney World completely changed not only my sense of belonging, but it changed my outlook on finding friendships in high school.
As I mentioned above, I never felt like I belonged to a certain group in high school. Going into my sophomore year, I didn't have a set group of friends I could rely on. There weren't those Friday night football games. There wasn't a set group of friends I had to attend Homecoming with. After experiencing Disney World with these seven girls, I started to feel apart of something great.
Since then, that feeling has never gone away. I truly am blessed with the best.
It's difficult to make friends, but it's even more difficult to keep them.
For almost 10 years, I have had these wonderful girls by my side. Throughout our friendship, they have shown me confidence, self-worth, loyalty, and over all, love.
When the eight of us are all together, which is a rare occasion, the memories we made in Disney World are never not brought up.
Not only do we share a love of everything Disney, but we all share love for the most wonderful time of year – Christmas.
We love it so much that ever since we became "Squad," we've been throwing a Christmas party every year.
With all of us finishing school or starting careers, having the eight of us together in one room has never been easy. Because the holiday season has a special importance to each one of us, we make sure to clear our schedule for the end of December to celebrate.
Disney World doesn't just have to be magical when you're there. The magic of Disney still flows through us every time we get together. As the youngest of the group, I have so much admiration for each of these ladies' successes.
Without Disney World, I wouldn't have such solid friendships as these. My life wouldn't be the same without Deja falling asleep on me and making the best food, Aeja calling me in a panic over which Instagram photos look best to post, Chloe coming to me for makeup advice and boosting my confidence, talking all things animals with Rachel and Kiersten, learning to be more spiritual and positive with the help of Nicole, and Catrina reminding me to always be fierce.
Here's to Walt Disney. Thank you for creating the wonderful world of Disney and bringing me seven of the best friends I've ever had.
