When we all start university, we think (and eventually figure out) that it’s nothing like we thought it would be when we committed to our respective colleges. Coming to Northeastern was a big step for me; both geographically and emotionally. I was leaving the comfort of different homes that I’d grown up in to one place I would be in for four years, with new people. Little did I know that the people who I met to be my friends during freshman year would actually become my family. If your friends became your family as well, then this is for them; an article essentially thanking all the bonds we’ve made this past year.

Starting university is a big step for all of us; we’re naïve, unsure of where we are in the world, and who we’re going to become. But in all fairness, our heads are all in one place: am I going to make any friends? Friendships are a vital part of university, and I guarantee that I wouldn’t have been able to survive my first year without the bonds and friendships I’d made along the way. Friends don’t just stay friends in college, they definitely become your family. Sure, no one can replace the bonds you have with your biological family, but the family you make in college is completely different.

A college family is something that is its own unique bond. You see these people in your dorm every day, you hang out in their rooms, you go to lunch and dinner with them, and even if you don’t see them every day you’re constantly texting them. You want to know how they are and you don’t mind if you have no space from them. All your friends teach you values that might’ve been different to what you learnt at home, and you’re completely okay with learning new things. You’re okay with understanding that some of your friends don’t believe in the same things you do, and that just because their political affiliation is something different to yours doesn’t make them any less of your friend. In fact, it makes you appreciate them more.

My college friends, though most of them are from the same country, are completely different in their ideals, which makes me so lucky to have met them. They may be from the same place, but they all believe in different things and have different ideals, which is why I’m so lucky to know them because they all have taught me different things, and shaped me into becoming the person who I am now; eight months after the start of freshman year. I no longer am used to my comfort zone, and I am not afraid to discuss things that I might have been afraid to do so in the past. My friends have made sure that while I’m always comfortable, I am not restricted to what I’m used to, and my friends make sure that I experience new things.

Due to my friends, I’m someone who definitely isn’t afraid to speak my mind, but I also have learnt when to reach my limits. I’m someone who isn’t afraid to try new things, and definitely am less inhibited about talking to more people. My first year at university has taught me that friendships are valuable, and that the people you meet your first year are those who are going to fast become your family. My friends taught me to not be afraid of things, and explore things, but mostly to be comfortable with myself. Freshman year is a year of firsts, but with these friends, it’s not going to be the last of amazing moments I’ve had so far. So if your friends changed you for the better, thank them too. Friendships are precious, and we should all cherish them.