When I came to college, I had no one, and by no one, I truly mean no one. I was two hundred miles from home— alone, scared, and on top of all that, I had no clue how to do laundry.

However, the first few days of college before classes begin is when only freshman are on campus for an event called Interface. You are with the same group of people and begin to know them quite well and you begin to bond in a weird and unusual way. Some say that you meet your best friends in your Interface group and sometimes you just meet faces that become familiar to you around campus in case you need someone to walk with. In my case I met my best friend, except I didn't know it and neither did she. As classes and cross country began, I became busy and focused all my energy into both of those areas because it is all that I seemed to have time for. As studying became more like a job and I became a student who was in her dorm more than in class, the obvious happened— I met and made no new friends.

As the first week of exams came upon us, everyone's priority became studying and coffee to boost grades that would eventually drop when hope was gone. The week when you begin to feel smothered and helpless with assignments was the week I again met my best friend. I walked into history class and saw a familiar face—the one from my interface group—and she was already settled so I went to my normal seat. After class, we walked to chapel together and then began talking more and more. Later that week, we studied together in the library in between her soccer and my cross country practices. Suddenly, there was no more looking for an empty seat, it was the one beside Morgan. Suddenly, there was no more being lonely at nights in my dorms because Morgan was 500 feet away. Suddenly, God looked down on me and said “I told you to just be patient,” and God gave me Morgan.

So to my friend Morgan,

Thank you for becoming my best friend in three short months. Thank you for studying with me and making me memorize flashcards until I could say them forwards and backwards. Thanks for our drives to Jackson to eat and laugh our guts out. For our movie night that ended in me falling asleep with marshmallows in my hand on a bean bag. Thanks for constantly texting me when I go home to make sure I made it and always telling me when classes are canceled because we both know I don't check my email. Thank you for laughing at my dumb jokes and horrible story tellings. But most of all thank you for being there when no one else was. In three short months, you've seen me at my worst, best, and somewhere in between. We have laughed until we have cried and ranted about pointless classes. Thank you for letting me help you wobble around campus on your crutches even though you think you can do it on your own. Thank you for making me leave my room every once in a while, because I wouldn't if you didn't make me. Thank you for so many more things that I cannot even begin to name. I never believed them when they said I would find my lifelong friends in college, but you somehow changed my mind. Thanks for already showing me what true friendship is. I cannot wait to see how many memories we share. I thank God for answering my prayers when he blessed me with a friend like you.

If you don't have a Morgan in your life, you're missing out on bags of lucky charm marshmallows (just the marshmallows), ice parties, and dinner dates in Jackson.

Keep praying for God to send someone your way who makes you realize why you are where you are, even if it may not be exactly where you want to be.