To the friends who helped me through my sophomore year, thank you. Here is a letter thanking you for the wonderful inspiration and strength you have given me through this year.

Dear friends,

I would not have gotten through this year without you. Period. From moving into the sorority house to going out together on Friday nights, from staying up studying for tests, or doing face masks at 3:00 in the morning, thank you.

Thinking back at the beginning of the year, I didn’t know what I had in mind, socially. It was work week and I was already getting to know new people, not only in my house but in the Greek community. I was opening up to new opportunities that I did not take last year and friendships I didn’t explore earlier.

Thinking back to my first day at work, I was wondering who I was going to meet. Who was my manager was going to be, and my other co-workers who worked within the Bookie. Who was I bound to connect with?

Thinking back to my first day of class. Was I going to have some of my sorority sisters in my classes or was I going to be the lone wolf with no friends who had to make her own friends in class?

Well, it was all of you lovely people that calmed my nerves. It is the new friends that I made this year and the old friends that I kept from last year that made my second year at Washington State so memorable.

Thank you to those who taught me what it was like to be in a sorority. To my roommates who helped me move in, moved my laundry over for me, and hung out with me at odd hours of the night while doing homework. Thank you for sharing your clothes with me when I felt like I had nothing to wear and there you were. Thank you for helping me figure out how to unclog the paper in my printer when I didn’t know how to, and for leaving nice notes on my desk. Thank you for making me a bagel when I come home on a Saturday night when I was hungry because we were dancing so hard. Thank you.

Thank you to the classmates I had. To those who helped me, through the pointless group projects, the test reviews, and the pop quizzes. These were the people who helped me not only through my classes but motivated me to want to go to them because I could see my friends. Even the people I never talked to, thank you for asking questions that I had too and just didn’t want to raise my hand for. Thank you.

Thank you to my amazing Clinique staff. You guys are incredible. Thank you for an amazing year of makeup and fun. You made it seem like I wasn’t working, and was hanging out with my friends in a work environment that I loved so much. I learned a lot, not only about my working style but also how to adapt to changes and troubleshoot. I have enjoyed work this year a lot and I cannot wait to come back next year. Thank you.

Thank you to the other friends I met at the frats who accepted the fact that it took me probably four or five times to remember you. Thank you for being people I can hang out with when I am at the house, or even just for being a new friendly face around campus. It is always nice seeing new people on my walks to class. Thank you.

Thank you old friends for still hanging around and talking with me. I know we probably only talked a few times around campus this year, or you saw me working, but thank you for keeping in touch. It means a lot. Thank you for being you, and developing yourself in your new life that you have developed, and supporting me with mine. Thank you.

Thank you friends who go to different schools and still stay in contact with me and check in every once-in-a-while. We will support each other until the end, and I thank you for being there for me when you are not here physically. Thank you for texting me and checking up on me when you know I'm going through a rough patch, or for sending a nice message just saying hi. I appreciate it and I look forward to continuing these friendships with those at different schools. Thank you.

And lastly, thank you to those who unexpectedly came into my life. Not from class, work, or my sorority house, but from connections with other people. I now have a whole new group of people I can be around and love, dance, and hang out with, and it makes me so happy. Thank you for being a breath of fresh air, and my rock that I can lean on. Thank you.

As you can see, this year would be very different with all these different people in my life. I am sure I am forgetting people, and I apologize, but these are the people who are helping me grow and develop as a person. I am so very thankful for the wonderful things you have contributed to my life, and I hope I can do the same for yours.

Summer will be hard not seeing all you every day, but I know we will keep in touch and stay connected through endless facetime calls, snapchat streaks, and texts.

Can’t wait to see where all of our friendships go in this next year.

Cheers,

Danni (Dan, Danika, Daniel, Dan-Dog)