Your college years are a fundamental experience to the person you become. You leave home to start a new life, meet new people, and (eventually) become a new person. The purpose of this four-year journey is to immerse yourself in an education that prepares you for whatever you wish to do with your future. However, the people you meet along the way throughout college are the ones that have a lasting impact on the person that you are. Every single memory together will build up to life-long relationships, whether it’s from all-nighters during exam week drinking endless amounts of coffee or from frat parties during syllabus week drinking endless amounts of cheap beer. Here’s a note of appreciation to everyone who has made my first half of my college career so amazing.

First things first, thank you to the friends I met during the awkward forced bonding of orientation. Orientation weekend is uncomfortable and terrifying because you hardly know anybody or anything about where you are. You wander around campus trying to figure out how the hell you will ever be able to walk to class and be on time. There are numerous icebreakers that heighten the level of awkwardness because you are talking about yourself to complete strangers. Two of my best friends to this day are from my orientation group, which I never would have guessed. Thank you guys for making me feel like I had friends to look forward to.

Thank you to my first college roommate. Living together in such close quarters 24/7 can be an absolute disaster depending who you are with. Luckily, I was placed with someone who became one of my very best friends. Thanks for sharing everything with me— most importantly your clothes for going out, midnight snacks, and your double bottle of white wine every Wednesday. Thanks for the late night conversations about life. Thanks for motivating me to go to the gym by reminding me that we ate 2 a.m. pizza the night before. Thanks for hating anyone that made upset and for always having my back. Thanks for always listening about every single detail of boy drama and for always telling me that I deserved better. You were always there for me, through everything. My first year wouldn’t have been the same without you. Roomie love is real.

Thank you to all the friends I made in college (aside from my roomie). Thank you to the chicks that endured the first month of craziness with me. Thanks to my day one bestie for showing me the long-awaited mystery of what a fraternity house was like during the first night of college. Thanks to all the homies I met along the way that made every night a good time no matter what. Every weekend, you meet countless random people at parties. For the most part, you will not remember any of their names or faces the next morning. These people are exciting to meet and hangout with, but they are not the ones I need to thank. After the thrill of freshman year fades away, you come back and realize who your real friends are. Thanks to the ones who are always down to stay in to watch a rom com and order Thai food. These are the friends that turned into your family somewhere along the way. Thanks everyone... endless love and appreciation for you all.