While eating dinner in my college's cafeteria, I had a small epiphany.

A student approached a group of friends eating and asked if they would mind helping him practice his magic act. The students were, naturally, intrigued and willing to participate. The magician was able to practice, the group of friends was entertained, and the collective whole will probably reunite as friends, or at least as familiars, in the future.

I thought to myself: wow that was kind of brilliant. Magic seems to be an intriguing ice-breaker that can get people interested in you without having to state your name and major (as we are all tired of doing by now). However, I had another thought. In high school, we had kids that tried to use magic in the same way and were teased for it-- teased for being different and having unique interests.

It occurred to me that what I just witnessed was what everyone means when they say "it gets better" after high school. During those four tortuous years, people are teased and ostracized for being different than what is considered the status quo. High school works to mold you into its image. College, even the relatively small one that I attend, is made up of so many different people that there is no true definition of conformity that people feel forced to fit in to. It seems to me that it doesn't matter who you are or what you're interested in, there's probably a friend group or club dedicated to embracing something you were once teased for.

It may also be that college kids genuinely don't care. Most of the kids here are looking for friends as desperately as you and are hiding it just as well. High school lends to too much comfort in one's self; it's close to home and oftentimes filled with the same people you've already gone through intermediate and middle school with. Being away from home and in an unfamiliar place brings people together. Whether you're commuting or living on campus, the environment presents itself in varying degrees of mystery and loneliness. You probably don't know many people and, unlike high school, your little clique holds little-to-no power in the grand scheme of the student body. Thus, college students are likely to latch onto anything they have in common with a stranger rather than look for the differences. After all, everyone here is going through the same type of hellish transition; it's much better to have a weird friend than no friend at all. In fact, weird friends are encouraged.

Previously, I never bought into the "it gets better" phrase. I just assumed it was one of those things you said to someone who needed to hear it for the sake of it being heard. I now know that it's not only true but also something that is comforting-- even if you weren't necessarily looking for comfort.