Coming to college, we are all nervous about meeting new people, and finding friends that stick. You hear all those stories from family members about how they met their best friends in college and still stay in touch, which really adds to the pressure of finding the right friends. You make lots of friends during orientation, all of which you think you will keep; the truth is you probably won't keep a single one. You'll meet friends in your classes, friends in your residence hall, and even friends in the dining hall, but you'll also lose some friends and here is a secret: that is okay.

Three years later, I have found some friends and lost some friends. I am grateful I found the ones I have and even more grateful I lost the friends I lost.

I can count them all on one hand, but the lessons they have taught me can't be counted on all the stars.

Friendship is not measured by the duration of time you have known someone.

There is something about being thrown into residence halls with people you have never met, from some places you have never been. These people may be strangers to you, but within months, maybe even weeks - it’s like you’ve known them forever. Although my best friends weren’t there for my 1st birthday, they know what I like in my coffee, what I like on my sandwich, the type of guys I fall for, and every member of my extended family. They know me better than anyone else.

Family isn’t always blood.

There are days when I wish that my best friends were my family, but I know that even though we aren’t blood related I would do for them what I do for my own sister, and they would do the same.

It’s okay to cry.

It’s okay to not always be so strong and to let someone see that. There are times when we just need someone to embrace us and tell us that it is going to be okay. Sometimes all we need is for someone to be strong for us, when we can’t be strong for ourselves.

Everyone needs someone.

Whether it is someone to go to the library with, someone to go out with, someone to run your ideas by before you present in class, or someone to just vent to, it’s always great to have a friend. It is okay to ask for help; everyone needs someone by their side, and someone to lean on.

There are people out there that like me, for me.

We’re all a little weird, some of us are more clumsy and annoying than others, but there are people out there that will embrace me and every flaw that is attached to me, and I don’t even have to twist their arm.

There are also people out there that will always tell you the truth.

Some outfits just don’t look right; some guys you talk to are just players. True friends know exactly what you want to hear, but they do not succumb to your pressure and tell you the truth, even if that means that you wont talk to them for a day or two.

Laughter is truly the best medicine.

Sometimes you could cry from stress, and some days you do. Sometimes you feel like nothing is going your way and the world is fighting hand and foot against you, on those days I know that from buildings away my friends can sense something is wrong and do not leave me alone until they know that a smile has been spread across my face. Nothing is better than tears changing from tears of sadness to tears from laughter.

Those that care about you will fight for you.

They say that you fight for what you love, and I am a big believer in that. There are days when my friends and I don’t always see eye to eye, there have been nights when we have made each other extremely angry and upset, but every night that I go to bed I know that I have some of the most amazing friends in the world and I wouldn’t trade them for anything, and I would everything to make sure that it stays that way.

Liquor before beer, and never tequila.

Shots together, then to the keg together, but never take a shot of that tequila, but if one of us does, the others will be holding back the hair or taking shots of tequila together.

There are actually people out there that know more about me than I know about myself.

When looking up from a text message, they know exactly how I’m feeling even if I don’t know how I’m feeling. They know exactly how I am going to react to a situation, and feel the same way I feel whether that is happy or sad

I’m lucky.

I may not have the best grades, I may not always be the happiest, but I think that when I was dealt a hand of cards when it came to friends I was given a hand of aces. I couldn’t ask for better people to care for or better people to care for me.

I’m in college to find my bridesmaids, not my husband.

That attractive guy at a party that continues to look my way is always fun to have a conversation with, but so is spending time with my friends. There will be a thousand other crappy guys to enter my life, but my 4 years in college with some of the most amazing friends goes by pretty fast. At the beginning of my college career I took it all for granted, but sitting here with half of my college career over I have come to realize that years from now when I am getting married I want the same people by my side.