One day you’re graduating high school and spending the day celebrating a commencement and a new beginning.

The next, you’re thrown out on your own and expected to be a functioning adult when college starts. This time can be extremely exciting, but it can also be very scary. Throughout this time, it’s important to learn how to be independent but also know it’s good to have a solid support system.

In this crazy transition from kid to adult, your friends are more like family.

1. You spend all of your time together

Between class, work, late night study sessions, and that little bit of a social life you have, your friends are pretty much always there. Most of the time, you all live pretty close together and pretty much want to hang out whenever you all can. This is the first time you’re really away from and independent from your family, so you really only see and spend time with your friends. When classes are in session, I spend six to seven days a week with my friends whether it be lunch between classes or a movie date on the weekend.

2. You're all going through the same transition from kid to adult

No one really understands how confusing becoming a ‘real adult’ can be besides people your age. It’s the first time living on your own and going to college, and trying to figure out how to do what should be simple tasks. There are a lot of issues and problems throughout college that most people really don’t understand. For example, on the first day of classes my freshman year, my friend and I were both searching for parking places on campus. We happened to see each other in passing and he was the first person I called, crying, “I don’t know what to do! There’s no place to park anywhere.” No one in my family would have had the empathy for me that he did.

3. You finally have a taste of independence

You’re finally getting independent and growing away from your family and parents. The last thing you want to do is do anything that could take that feeling away. Nothing really feels better than having a night out or going on a small vacation with just friends and feeling that freedom. The first time I went on a “friends only” vacation was for Spring Break during my first semester of college. There was no better feeling than having the money and freedom to get in your car and drive to Florida for a week.

4. The support is REAL

It’s midnight on a Monday and you’re having a breakdown over the term paper that you haven’t finished yet. The only people who will be able to understand and listen to you are your closest friends. Nothing is more relieving than hearing, “Girl, I haven’t started my essay yet either.” Or maybe you’re having troubles with your boyfriend, and no matter how crazy you feel, your best friend will listen no matter what. I’ve never felt more supported than when I have my friends to call on or go to about even the smallest thing.

5. Trust is EVERYTHING

Being adults means most of the pointless, high school drama is replaced by ‘real’ problems. There is a certain level of trust that is inherently established by all of these things. This is a kind of trust that is hard to describe, but impossible to duplicate. Whether it be listening to a crazy story, helping with an assignment, keeping a secret, or just having each other’s backs. The trust is there and won’t ever die.

I believe that more often than not, the friends you grow with in college will continue to grow with you for the rest of your lives. It won’t matter if you’re living across the country from one another or still down the street from each other. These friends have become your family, and family doesn’t forget about each other.