One of the biggest challenges I've faced this summer is the daily heartache of missing my college friends. I go to school out of state, so I have friends that live across the entire United States. Some of my friends are even studying abroad; technically, I have friends all around the world (pretty cool, eh?). Don't get me wrong, I love my friends from high school and I hang out with them regularly, but I miss my friends from college like crazy. For the last nine months, we've spent every waking moment together, so going from being together 24-7 to not seeing them at all has been really rough on me.

After reflecting on the concept of a 'long distance friendship', I've come to the conclusion that the distance between my friends and I actually helps my friendships grow stronger. Sure, it stinks that I don't get to see my best friends every weekend, but my long distance friendships have helped me develop stronger/healthier relationships with my friends and has given me a whole new perspective on friendship as a whole. Here's how and why.

I appreciate my friends so much more.

I haven't seen my best friends in about a month and a half now, so it's easy to say that I miss them immensely. Distance has helped me grow an appreciation for all of the times that we've shared.Yes, I miss the big things, like going out on the weekends, going out to dinner, and having team bonding. But above all, I miss the little things, like watching reality TV shows while crammed into a little twin bed with two of my best friends, spontaneously buying a pet lobster with my teammates, or ordering pizza at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday just because. At the time, I didn't really appreciate small things like that, but distance has helped me realize that those moments are much more special than I realize.

I've adjusted to the time zone in about 15 different places.

I can tell you what time it is in Texas, Colorado, California, and even Shanghai, China. Having friends all around the country (and world) requires you to know what time it is in many different places and often makes it tough to communicate. One of my best friends is only one hour ahead of me, another is two hours ahead of me, and then one is thirteen hours ahead. My world clock app on my phone is loaded with the times from several different cities, just in case I get confused. Sometimes, I wake up a little earlier or go to sleep a little later in order to be able to talk to my friends, but, hey, that's how much I love them.

I always have something to look forward to.

The .gif pretty much says it all. I'm counting down the days until I get to see my friends again, and when that day comes, I actually may vomit. We still text/FaceTime/Snapchat all of the time, but it just isn't the same. When we all reunite, its going to be the highlight of my year (to say the least)!

So, thank you, long distance friends, for bringing out the best in me and teaching me the true definition of friendship. I can't wait until I get to see you again, and I love and miss you dearly. This one's for you.