Think back to your freshman year of college - were you the person who's currently reading this article? We certainly hope not, primarily because as humans we're always in a constant state of change; continually searching for meaning in this ephemeral cycle we've been caught in tends to force you to mature, both physically and mentally. However, when it comes to your collegiate struggle to better understand the world and how it works, it is a known fact that one cannot thrive under such an environment on their own. Getting by with a little help from your friends isn't just a line from The Beatles, it's a part of living. Yet relying on your friends during your four years of college is crucial not only because they're the ones who will pull all-nighters with you or make a boring class more bearable, but ultimately because they become your family.
For the majority of students who enroll in college, living in a dorm during those years is probably their first take on moving out of their parent's house and having to deal with real life situations that, back in high school, they wouldn't have had to worry about. Even with all the commodities offered by the housing facilities, living with strangers who were paired up with you by an automated system is no simple feat, especially if you really don't get along with them. On top of that and all the other new responsibilities that you now have on your hands, such as waking up by yourself for that 8 AM class or having to manage your finances completely solo, college life gets strenuous and the more you isolate yourself, the worse it gets. At certain times you'll ask yourself if the path to adult life is really as hard as it seems to be and you'll feel like no one else understands the struggle you're going through. Yet, the friends you make in college are the only people who are in the exact same boat as you and also happen to be the ones who can provide the best kind of support.
The underlying reason why the friends you make in college end up becoming your friends for life is because, ultimately, you're forced to interact with them, and when none of your friends from back home or your family are around for you to cry on their shoulders, you'll most likely turn to those around you and they will turn to you. Besides the hardships, your college friends are also the ones who will join you in your adventures; the fun, crazy, experimental times where you find out what happens if you take 12 shots of tequila or why you shouldn't buy drugs from random people at a club.
Your college friends are the ones who will help you grow because not only are they in the same process of maturing as you, but also because they are willing to experience anything and everything, and it is this open-mindedness that is perhaps the most imperative aspect of being in college. It is at that point in your life where you're free and on your own that gives you the chance to meet plenty of different people and go out and satisfy your deepest desires to explore the world that is now yours to take. The passage from teenage life into adult life is full of surprises, it's like a puzzle where the pieces are constantly changing and there is no exact right or wrong, there is only things you've experienced and things you haven't. That is why you need people with a similar mindset to help guide you through it all, and it is through that process of assimilation with the real world that you'll really become the person you're meant to be.
Make no mistake in thinking that your college friends know who you are because the truth is they don't even really know who they are, and the whole process of going through college together means that, in the end, you'll end up with some of their characteristics and them with some of yours. Growing up is difficult, and it becomes even more of an ordeal when you think you have to do it alone, especially because it is during college where you'll begin to face more existential issues that require you to toughen up in order to survive and make it through.
Even though this is the 21st century and your family is a mere FaceTime call away, your immediate college family will account for most of who you become along the way. Be it during deep conversations at 4am, or while you help each other figure out how to do your taxes; there is no friendship like a college friendship. It is truly amazing to see that person who was once a scared and uncertain freshman at orientation become a confident, ambitious, and refined adult with so many dreams and goals - all the while knowing that you were a part of that process of growth - and that hopefully they did the same to you.
So go ahead, thank all the friends you've made in college because they're the reason you're the person you are today. Regardless if these friendships were positive or negative even those friendships that didn't last and fell apart, you learned valuable lessons that you'll take with you for the rest of your life. And if you're still a freshman and reading this, cherish the friends you have and never hesitate to make new ones because by the time you all graduate you'll realize how much these people mean to you and how life won't be the same without them.
