Freshman year is scary.
You are in a new place with new people and a new home. Home. It seems like a foreign concept when you first walk into the empty dorm and wonder what it feels like to live there. You think to yourself that there is no way your bed will ever be as comfortable as the one at home, and you'll never get used to not hearing your mom's voice in the morning.
Boy, how you were wrong.
You strike a casual conversation with your roommate. Alright, they seem normal. This could work.
Time to check the others.
A little bit skeptical, you walk through the bathroom to the other room to talk to the people you'd be living with. OK, maybe they're not your best friends from home, but you assume that they'll do.
If you were like me, you had no idea that you were talking about your future best friends, the ones who will continue to listen to you even when no one else will, and the ones you would make your best college memories with. Your suitemates. Your family.
Of course, things started out a bit awkward. The first few weeks began as surface level friendships. You guys went to the dining hall together. You walked to the library together to study and kept each other in check on homework. You got ready together before going out and searched for outfit approvals from each other.
As time passed, everyone saw all sides of everyone. You guys bonded over your sh*tty boy history, and they held you while you cried over a dummy head. You all braved finals together, and the trips to the library to "study" turned into late night roaming across campus.
Your two separate rooms became one large one with absolutely no boundaries. It was 100 percent expected for you to jump on roomie to get her out of bed, and she wasn't even shocked that you spent more time naked than clothed.
The four closets turned into one, and now you have about half of your clothes. But it's fine because you like the ones you took from them better.
When you were on break, you didn't know how to get ready for a party without your other three amigos and '90s hip hop blaring.
They understood you when no one else did. When you needed to be left alone in bed, they respected it. When you needed to cry and eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's Half Baked, they were right there with you crying and eating. They knew what to say and when to say it, and this is mostly because they are your family.
I will never be able to express how grateful I am for my college family. To the ladies who dealt with me for an entire year, I love you with my entire heart, and I would not trade it for the world.
