I'm not really sure how it happened, or why it passed so quickly, but the time I spent in college is one of my best life memories. Don't ask me what it was that made me love it so much, because there are too many answers. The cafeteria food might've played a little part in this. It also might've been the freedom, or the fact that I didn't have to follow anybody's rules anymore. Except for, of course, the university's rules. One thing that truly was the cherry on top of it all that got me through everything, was my new friends and also old ones. There was no one I'd rather be around or experience the things I experienced with. All the nights I wanted to stay in and watch television were actually just spent with my buddies, learning about myself and learning about the world.

Like the time I went through a death in the family during finals week of my sophomore year. I had to stay on campus to finish a 14 page paper on gender equality and how it played a role in the Renaissance. Weird combo, I know. I couldn't leave to go be with my family, and I couldn't finish the paper fast enough to turn it in early and leave. Maybe I was better off staying at school while this happened so I wouldn't fall apart. The paper was probably the hardest thing I had ever had to bullshit and it was getting to be too much with everything going on. All I really needed was the company of my good friends, old and new, so we all decided to get together and play Quelf, which is this crazy-random game of fun. It got me out of my dorm and into the rest of my night that I didn't want to spend alone.

Let me just take a moment to thanks those friends of mine, now. You guys have kept me sane (for the most part). You gave me strength to be myself and do the things I enjoy doing (like color guard). You were there during the tough times when I needed a distraction or just needed a break from studying. Out of all the days I spent being stressed from school, it made it even better knowing that you guys were stressed, too. So there's also that.

When you're young, you think you're invincible. I'm here to tell you that's not always the case. Currently, the one thing that helped me get through all those years of being away from home is changing now. My friends have graduated, just like me, and some are staying for grad school, some have already moved home four hours away. Things change and we have to be ready to take it on. Otherwise, we may not survive the next phase of our lives, whether it be marriage, having a baby, or even moving to a different state after you graduate.

The best part about this whole realization about my friends is how great it will feel to be reunited with these people at some point in time. I'm betting that even though things change, I will still feel this same feeling about the same people no matter how old I get.