Remember that one time we stayed out until 5 a.m. knowing we had meetings exactly 3 hours later? Remember that one time we thought it was a good idea to order $50 worth of food at 3 in the morning even though we are broke college students? Remember that one time I met your friends from home over FaceTime and talked to them for 2 hours? Thank you. Thank you for everything. For the simple joys of finishing a large box of breadsticks together, to the nights we thought we weren’t going to sleep because of finals.
You go into college knowing a handful of people; from high school, your neighborhood, maybe family members, but you’re curious who else is out there. No matter where you come from, you are shocked by the amount of people on campus. From faces you have never seen before to hearing languages you have never heard before, you’re just taking it all in. You start meeting people through different clubs, sports, Greek life, and even in your building and think “wow, I wish I met you before coming here.” You’re basically playing catch up, trying to make up for lost time in which you wish you could’ve been friends. Telling them all of your funniest stories from back home, to gossiping with them about the people you saw in the caf earlier that day. You realize these are your people.
So thank you to everyone who I have met over the course of a few months and who I will meet in the upcoming years. Thanks for making me laugh so hard that in every “candid” picture we take together, I look like a mule because I am uncontrollably laughing. Our inside jokes are ones I would never want to trade for the world. Thank you for taking care of me, when I am having a bad day, or when I realize I forgot an assignment and feel like there is no hope for my grade. You really know how to pick up my spirit.
But I would like to thank you most of all for the memories we are making. To all the nights out together, to all the nights in sitting on our couch binge watching shows on Netflix, thank you. You have all taught me to cherish each memory we have together. You have taught me how to laugh things off, yet how to own up to my mistakes. You have taught me how to love every second of college, even when it is 5 a.m. and I remember I have an assignment due at 7:30 in the morning. I could not be more thankful for you, and when this semester ends, I wish I could stick every single one of you in my suitcase home. You make the rough days bearable, and the best days incredible.
