It's 2 a.m. and you're probably asking yourself why you decided to not stay in and eat that extra Domino's pizza you had saved in the fridge while staying curled up in your favorite groutfit to finish that final episode of your current Netflix addiction.

Instead at 2 a.m., you're holding a friend's hair back after a long night at a party or a bar, you could be keeping track of another friend's set of keys to their dorm, and all while trying to make sure no one disappears out of your sight. The thought of this sounds horrendous, right? Wrong. To someone like you, it is an effortless task that you have become well versed in throughout college.

At about 3 a.m. is when you receive the oh so coveted nickname of "Mom."

Being the "Mom" throughout the course of college is probably one of the quickest ways to have a large set of stories to tell your friends about what your years at school have been like. They can range from how you learned that your best friend can destroy six soft shell tacos from Taco Bell at 3 a.m. or how you ran through the fountain at Mo State in the early hours of the morning.

Also, you learn how brutally honest people are in many different states. Many friends when they're drunk aren't afraid to tell you how they feel about their current crush or what they just texted said crush. However discussing the late night conversations the next morning often result in a large amount of "Why did I do that's" and groans into a pillow while they recover from their hangover.

Being the "mom" friend also teaches you a lot of life lessons in an extremely short amount of time. You never think that at twenty-one years old you would have to be sitting outside of the bathroom in your apartment while one of your closest friends' is getting sick and you have to sit with a McDonald's meal at the ready for them to reach for at a moments notice.

No one stops to think that you'll have to wake up at 2 a.m. to a phone call of a friend asking for a ride home from lord knows where either. But as the one who wants to make sure everyone is safe, you're more than willing to spring up from bed and drive home everyone all while wearing your favorite pj's. (Personal favorite is picking people up while wearing cartoon penguin pj pants and the biggest comfort color t-shirt I own).

So here's to you. The one that will drop whatever they're doing to make sure someone is okay after a long night out. The one who will dance their butt off all while supervising everyone they came to the party with. The one who will listen to your friends go on and on about whatever they are thinking and feeling that night without any judgement.

Often friends come to you and say "Thanks for taking care of me," and that's what makes being the "mom" friend worth it. The thought that knowing thanks to you, you were able to keep everyone safe and sound for the night.