Imagine you’re sitting with your friends after a long day of work and you are just exhausted. Your bank account is low and you can’t afford to go out to a restaurant so you decide to use your meal plan and eat in the school cafeteria. The food is alright (although not anything to write home about) but it’s food so you’re happy. You and your friends try to find a table in the crowd and confusion of the busy dining hall, when finally there it is a free booth right in the back, and as far as tables go, it is prime real estate.

You see some baseball players eyeballing it too so you send your fastest friend to slide in as fast as humanly possible. The pitcher sees your friend and rushes to beat them there as if they’re trying to stop them from scoring a run. Your swift-footed friend sees the player out of the corner of their eye and goes for the slide. The pitcher picks up his speed and breaks into a sprint and jumps for the table in snapshot finish. When the dust finally clears you see your friend triumphantly sitting in the booth boldly proclaiming to the disappointed player: “Oh sorry these seats are taken.” At last you and your group can enjoy your meal in peace in a cushioned booth seat that feels as warm and comfortable as your own bed.

The meal continues and you begin to relay to your friends how ludicrous your day was. They listen intently, better than any therapist. Soon they begin to offer consolation. "Well at least the meatloaf isn't too terrible." However nice the sentiment may be, you can feel your stomach swiftly losing trust in you with each bite. In fact, one of your friends subtly hints at the hair that is gently lodged in your mashed potatoes. Its at this point that you conclude that you food is 100% revolting and you cease eating at once.

Around this time you come to the conclusion that this is one of the worst days you've had in a long time. You look at your glass of water and see that it's pretty much half empty. So you give up you place your head on the table and close your eyes for a few seconds. You run though your mind all the bad things that happened today, and all the crap you need to do for tomorrow. It's just too much.

But that's when something strange begins to happen.

You first feel a supportive pat on your shoulder. Comforting reassurances that everything will be alright. You look up to the smiling faces of your friends, and see that you glass is now entirely full. The tell you that no matter what that they'll be there for you. They give you a pledge that no matter what happens they'll be there for you.

And you know what? The day doesn't seem all that bad any more. Suddenly you are filled with life, and feel like you could take on the world! You look to you friends and just say "Thanks, guys." They look at you and smile. They smile not because of the thanks you give them but because when you're happy, they're happy too.

Friends like these are the real MVP's. They kind of friends who pull you out of the mud and help you keep going. I am so blessed to have friends like this. They are the real reason I'm writing this article. They're the best and I love them so much.

So to my friends reading this: (You know who you are.) Thank you. Thank you so much for everything you do! I love you guys!