The sun was setting in brilliant shades of pink, red, yellow and orange over the mountains of Costa Rica. At our feet, the Pacific Ocean was licking at our toes as it rolled in and out. Two of my best friends were on either side of me, each of us lost in our own thoughts as we looked on at the beautiful scene. It was the perfect end finale to my summer, which ended in just three short days, and I was soaking up every second. Suddenly, one of my friends turned to the other two of us and asked, "Do you promise we're going to be friends forever?"

I nodded my head in agreement as my other friend did, and we all pinkie promised on that beach that we would never lose touch. However, her question caused worries to resurface that I had tried hard to push down. These were the people I had known forever and the people who had seen me at my lowest. I trusted them with everything; what if I lost them now?

The thought literally terrified me. It consumed my thoughts on our plane ride home the next day, as I said goodbye to all of my friends in the two days that followed, and as I drove down to my dorm in Alabama. Calling them and the rest of my friends that night to show them my room, they said that they missed me and that they wanted to talk again soon. Hanging up left a pit in my stomach. How was I ever going to get over losing these incredible people? A pinkie promise was a pinkie promise, but you never really know.

After getting off the phone, I turned to my roommate and the other friend we had made at orientation that she was FaceTiming. We all talked for almost an hour before getting off and getting ready for bed. I texted my other friends from orientation to see if their respective move-ins had gone well and to make plans to meet up the following day. The next day came with even more new friends, our first trip out of the dorm on our own in my roommate's truck (shoutout to Panda Express), and meetings that had me excited to begin the new year.

At the end of the night, I called my friend to chat; the same friend who had asked if we would be friends forever. The question suddenly seemed like it had been asked an eternity ago as we saw each other on FaceTime to talk about life. This conversation brought about another question from her: "How are you doing?"

A few days prior sitting on that beach, I thought that at this point I was going to say "miserable." I thought I would be pining for my friends and yearning for the 'good ole days' where we were all together, and the friends forever would be reunited. But I found myself surprised when I responded "I'm doing well! I love it here." And I meant it.

I may only be a few days into this thing called college, but I've already realized something pretty special. Going to college is not the end of an era of friendships and memories. Friends forever can truly be that, yet there's no rule that says new friends aren't allowed. I found myself genuinely happy to talk to both my old friends and my new ones as my first few days at UA went by, and I think that's the beauty of amazing friendships. Our beach pinkie promise doesn't have to be broken as my friends and I journey through college and life; you can really make new friends while keeping the old. I guess that's why one is silver and the other gold.