As young college students, now is the time for us to start meeting people who are interested in and passionate about the same things we are. The friendships and bonds I have made with people in college so far has been greater than anything I ever experienced in high school or before. Getting the opportunity to meet and even live with these people allows us to live a life away from parents or guardians and create a perspective of the world entirely our own.
This past school year, I was lucky enough to live with my three closest friends in a house, and it has definitely been the best year at college so far. I love waking up on weekends and making big breakfasts together, walking each other to class or the cafeteria and participating in our late-night vent sessions.
Living with these three goofballs made me realize how nice it is to become independent, but with the help of the people around you. Moving away from home and having to live on your own and take on the world for yourself can be difficult. I never even knew how to make mac and cheese until my housemate taught me how. College is when young adults begin to learn how to be on their own and take care of themselves. However, it's always much easier when you have your friends doing it with you.
They have given me advice ranging from outfits ideas to ways to save money. We have probably taken hundreds of mirror selfies. We have all slept in the same bed talking until 4 a.m. Every second of living with them has been a great time.
Although it is super fun and exciting to be living with people who want to do the same things as you, it can also be very easy to badly influence each other (like by skipping homework and watching a marathon of "Criminal Minds" instead). I think that in the past year of living with my friends, I have listened to every single Drake song written and watched almost all the Disney Channel throwbacks on Netflix. Sometimes these nights are needed when you've all been stressing over essays and tests, but other times, they're only distracting you more from getting your work done!
The great part about living with your closest friends is that you can push each other to work together and get things done as a group. During finals week last semester, the four of us would stay up together and make sure we all got our work done. We wouldn't let someone else go to bed if they didn't get everything done that they needed to get done. This called for lots of coffee and grumpy mornings, but we were thankful we had each other to motivate us.
Living with your best friends, of course, has its pros and cons. For instance, if you ever want to hang out or talk to them, they are only a few doors down... yet you might eventually get annoyed, since you see them all day, every day. No matter what, though, they become your family away from home. My housemates are my entire support team; they help me with studying and peer edit all my papers, stay up until 3 a.m. talking about our lives before college and what we want to do after, and everything in between. Whenever any of us are having a bad day, we know when to give them space and when to attack them with hugs and get them to talk it out. We know when to tease each other and when to sit quiet and listen. We have all gotten to know each other so well that living together has become the most easy-going part of college. They're the family I got to choose, and they have made adjusting to college life (and the real world) so much easier.
The jokes and memories I have made with these 3 girls in the past year, I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life. I owe all my successes of my sophomore year to them. This summer has been rough having to go without waking up to little Post-it notes on my mirror or Zuri snoring on the couch, but going back to school in the fall is going to be 10 times easier knowing that we'll be going back to our house together.
