I am 99.9% sure that what I'm going to discuss now is something that every single person who goes off to college goes through - experiencing a long distance relationship between you and your best friend (unless they go to your college and in that case I guess you hit the jackpot there).

My best friend has been in my life for nearly 11 years now. We even have a friend-aversary for the day we first met - 7/26/06 - yeah, we're that cute. And I feel I can say with the utmost certainty she and I will remain best friends until we're just two old ladies crafting and watching musicals. But being away at college has been the first time I've ever truly been separated from the person I consider my rock and I've learned a lot about not only myself, but our friendship as a whole because of it.

Knowing my best friend as long as I have, I have been lucky enough to grow up with her and see both of us change over time. There are countless photographs and memories, spots around town we call our own, and even our families have become the other's. And in our senior year of high school, it was probably the most time I spent with her where for once our classes were shared and I was with her every single day. With senior year, however, comes the selection of college, and of course, based on the title of this article, one can determine we went to different colleges. While we would remain in the same state, we were 3 hours away, 167 miles apart.

So what did this teach me? Well, for starters I knew I'd miss my best friend - how could I not? But I didn't really understand what it would feel like to not have her there when I needed her until I left. When the initial high of meeting tons of new people in college wore away, I found myself longing for the person who knew what I needed (like a Trop smoothie trip) instead of all these new faces that didn't know me well enough yet. Getting a FaceTime call from her was a highlight of my week, if I got one that week. We were both such busy people. We'd plan but it would always happen. And that was okay. Just to know that we would talk soon or that she wanted to call or missed me could be enough sometimes. And I truly believe that is a part of college - learning how to balance what's happening in your relationships in college and the ones from back home. It is okay to not talk every single day because your best friend is still there for you and misses you. You're both just living life.

And while one would think having a childhood best friend means we'd know everything about one another, college is a time to explore oneself and people change. There are new things popping up for the both of us to learn about each other, and I love knowing that despite us taking our college experiences in varying directions we support each other and see the other grow. We're both different people since we left for college, but I love her even more as I get to witness my best friend finally be on a path of life that she is passionate about and share that with like-minded people at her school and I know she feels the same.

And it's true - she and I are very different people. We are interested in opposing career fields, we don't share any similar hobbies, and we choose to experience college in different ways, but that's okay. I'll admit I thought I'd lose her over because she had found so many people like her in college. We'd always been this way, but we'd never been surrounded by as many people as we were that shared our individual interests before. But she didn't feel this way for a second. She told me she loved our movie night dates, and watching the Tony's, trips to sushi restaurants or drives to the beach where we get lost, eating raw cookie dough and having sleepovers in rainbow canoes because I am her soulmate. Her confidence and reassurance blew any doubts I ever had, in fact, it felt silly to ever even have those thoughts when I know she is in my life to stay. I can say with all of my heart, even though we've spent basically an entire year apart, we are stronger than ever.

To my best friend: I may not be coming home this summer, and I miss you more and more every day. But you are my green bean and I don't think I ever thank you enough for all that you do for me. We have both had crazy years, and though we weren't physically there for each other, I never felt alone because I knew you were always there. I love you with all my heart you beautiful tropical fish. I will see you soon with a handhug waiting and a scrapbook to exchange.