"You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing." - E.B. White

Throughout the course of our lives, we make so many different friendships. Our first friends are usually our parents or caretakers. Then, when we are socialized, the amount of friendships expand to siblings, cousins, and even neighbors . We make even more friends when we start school. Some of those friends stick around, and some don't. There are friendships that last a lifetime, and then some friendships that last a week. In high school, we thought that the friends we made would be there with us for the rest of our lives. Going away for college has opened my eyes to the reality of the falsehood of that statement.

I thought for sure that I would keep all of the impactful friendships I had made in high school. I was bound and determined.Graduation day came and went, I moved out of state for college, and slowly a lot of those friendships started to deteriorate. The people that once surrounded me with laughter were growing in different ways and headed in totally different directions. People don't often tell you about this phenomenon. Or if they do, and if you're anything like me, you roll your eyes and tell them that you will beat the statistic.

I am here to tell you that a lot, though not all, of the friends that you made in high school will probably grow apart from you after graduation day is over and "real life" has begun. I'm also here to tell you that it is okay. Some people are only meant to be in your life for a short period of time. It will hurt, losing some friendships, and others will just fade gracefully in the background. I think that it is important for us to appreciate what those people brought to our lives, but not hold onto them any longer than we should. Big life changes happen around the college age. Not everybody pursues college either, which believe it or not, will impact friendships in some way. You will make new friendships along the way.

I am both part of the exception and the rule. My longest lasting friendships, are since birth, since kindergarten, and since middle school. But within the last two years I have lost a fair share of people I considered to be my best friends. I have learned that there are friendships that you will find are worth fighting to keep throughout the chaos of your changing life, but also those who we need to let go of. We just need to be able to recognize who those people are. I cannot begin to tell you how much friends have impacted my life, both positively and unfortunately sometimes negatively.

Never have I realized how much I value friendship until I moved so far away from home. I am blessed that my best friend since kindergarten headed to the same college as me. Moving out away from home was terrifying. Arizona was a new, exciting, but also scary. During these times is when we need friends most. Friends are there to help carry you through the scary, life changing things that happen to you. I am so thankful for the friends that I have kept in my life. They have brought me so much joy and laughter. They have helped me keep my head held high when depression grabbed a hold of me. There are so many different, amazing things that friendship can provide us with. So appreciate your friends in the moment. You may grow apart from some, you may have to let go of some and you may have some life lasting friendships. Whatever the case, friendship brings so much value to life.