Most people I have met in college are more than ecstatic to recreate themselves with no trace of the past following them (except for that stupid sophomore year album they never made private on Facebook).

Coming from a large high school and attending an in-state college almost guaranteed I would see people from home frequently. (If we actually acknowledged each other, it would be a different story). While some view that as something that could sway their choice in school, I determined that having familiar faces would have their perks, which I still believe to be true.

Before we even arrived at school, we had already planned adventures with each other. We didn't have to wait anxiously and hope that we found people with similar interests who would accompany us to various events. Months ahead of time, my friends and I purchased concert tickets and didn't have to worry about them selling out (and didn't have to worry about being poor college students because we were still working).

During the first few weeks, while everyone was going through the awkward stage of finding friends and friend groups and trying to understand people's likes and dislikes, I had friends available to me who were willing to go to stupid orientation events and campus-wide events with me. I guarantee you that if my friends hadn't dragged me to some events, I wouldn't have nearly as many great memories from early on in the school year. I can't even tell you the amount of times someone I now know says, "Oh, I didn't go to that because no one would go with me," or, "I wish I would've gone to that, but I didn't want to go alone."

Despite popular belief, having close friends at school with me did not prevent my social growth. If anything, my social life benefited from having built-in friends the moment I set foot on campus. Many friends I've made at college are people who I met through friends I had at home.

I was lucky two of my close friends from home came to school with me. The friendships I had with my high school friends allowed me to become closer to them and also build new friendships. It's nice to see a familiar, smiling face walking around campus and having someone to back up your crazy high school stories. Not to mention that when something happens to someone from your hometown or your hometown in general, you know someone will be there to relate to your story or be genuinely interested in your news.

So, friends from home who continue to be my friends in college, thank you for staying friends with me through my awkward stage and, now, my confused stage. Most importantly, thank you for amazing high school memories and even better college memories.

Oh, also thank you for sitting with me on long bus rides home and understanding my separation anxiety from Wawa.