As the semester comes to a close, I’ve found myself reflecting on these past three months. Those of you who have read my articles since the summer have journeyed alongside me through a major part of the transition from childhood to adulthood—moving into college.

Now, I find myself spending most of time outside of my room, hanging out with friends, leaving campus, and attending events. Just today, every time I’ve gone back to my dorm room has only been to swap out whatever I’m carrying with something else for another event. I’m not used to being busy in this way; unlike high school, I’m not trapped on a campus 40 minutes away from my house for the entirety of the day. I can go home easily and quickly now, in between events.

As I’m typing this, I’m sitting with some of my closest friends here at LMU. I asked my friends what the topic of this week’s article should be.

“First dates,” one suggested, as we’d just returned from surprising two members of our friend group on their date with a candle-lit setup and a speaker playing “Can I Have This Dance?” from "High School Musical 3" for their first slow dance.

“Yu-Gi-Oh!” another suggested, shuffling his Yu-Gi-Oh deck in his hands. I rolled my eyes (lovingly).

And now I’m being coerced into learning how to play Yu-Gi-Oh with them. College sure is something, I gotta say.

I prided myself on my close friendships I had when graduating high school. While I still have that same pride when I think of my favorite moments from high school, it’s impossible not to feel the distance. Any sadness I then feel is quickly defeated by the laughter and joy my new friends bring to me.

Of course, it’s hard to feel as comfortable in a three-month-old friendship as it is a four-year-old one. Despite that, I’ve found myself opening up to some of my new friends much, much more quickly than those I had in high school.

Is it because it’s easier to relate to others here—all of us grown children trying to find a balance between independence and dependency on our parents? Or because my school is much more diverse than my high school and has given me friends more similar to myself more easily? Maybe I’m just that overwhelmed and in need of comfort?

Now I’m watching these morons jump and dance around to some Yu-Gi-Oh song. I can hear a specific ten-second snippet of their “performance” looping over and over as one friend captions his video before posting it to his Snapchat story. I’m amused. But also reassured.

Going into college, I was somewhat unsure of my ability to find a tightknit group of friends. Looking back on these fears several months later, I’m confident in the fact that I’ve proven my fears to be false and unnecessary.

I talked about this more a few articles ago, when I was visited by one of my high school friends, but I’ll say it again: old friendships don’t have to change with college. I know for a fact mine haven’t. And rather than feeling replaced by my old friends’ new friends, or feeling guilty for “replacing” my old friends with new friends, I feel balanced. There’s this warmth within me that always reminds me I’m never alone. That fact is even truer now than it was months ago.

I’m ecstatic to return home for break and be reunited with my beloved friend groups from high school, but I’ll definitely miss my college friends while I’m away. And I can’t wait to find more friends in my new classes next semester after break.