We’ve entered that terrifying and exhilarating period in our lives known as our twenties, and having met in our early teens, we can officially say we’ve grown up together. We shared in each other’s nervousness and excitement when college acceptance letters were mailed out. We attended each other’s graduation parties, heard countless congratulatory messages, and did everything we could to make the most of our time together before going off to different colleges to pursue our own dreams.

And as much as I miss you all when it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other last due to our hectic schedules, I couldn’t be happier about it. In the process of going after our goals and dreams, we’re all taking steps toward becoming the people we want to be. We’re having new experiences, learning things we never knew before and shaping our futures. And I am happy about this because I don’t see it as us drifting apart. Instead, I feel lucky to have people who met me at a young age, who saw me through my tough times, who know all my terrible stories, and are still huge presences in my life now, watching me grow in new ways. I don’t feel sad because I know how strong our bonds are, and I feel confident that they will always stay that way. I know that spending time apart to devote to our own interests and pursuits will only give us more to talk about when we reunite again.

People always say that the friends you meet in high school won’t be your friends forever, but I really believe our friendships are the exception to that. We’re already drastically different people now than we were in high school, and we still have so many things to love and appreciate about one another. As we get closer to “real” adulthood, we face more hardships and they become more serious. All the tough stuff we went through in high school seems a lot less tough now. But when it felt like the end of the world, I had you guys there to remind me that I could get through it. I have no doubt that you’ll still be able to do that for me as the years go on, because you see how far I have come already. You are all more than friends to me—you’re my family, and always knowing that I’ll have you to count on makes the big bad world seem a lot less scary. No matter how busy we get, or how far we may travel from one another, know that you’ll always have me too.