Friendship is one of life's greatest joys. Thankfully, friendship ebbs and flows in every single part of a person's life. Whether we find our friends on our first day of kindergarten or the first day of college, true friends always support you in whatever your endeavors are. College can be intimidating enough, but I have no idea what I would do without my friends here at Longwood University. So here's to the friends that add to my enjoyment of college traditions and for helping me out with the stress of midterms.

I never initially feared the idea of college. I knew to expect the unexpected, but where making friends was concerned, I was just as unsure as the little kindergarten version of me starting anew in an entirely different school system. I knew some of my closest friends before college by the modern connection of texting and social media. Although I had no idea my friends and I would end up so close in so short of time.

For starters, it really helps that my roommate and I are practically the same person. We both have the same mindset about the true values of life, and we have each other's back as a result. She's one of my best friends in the whole world, so naturally, we have the same friend group. In all honesty, this surprising convenience kind of came as a blessing in disguise.

My friends are rambunctious and make me burst out laughing at the weirdest jokes at the strangest of times. We share everything, from what life is like back in our hometowns to random aspects like what our favorite color is. Although we know when to be serious, we always look out for each other, just to make sure everyone's alright.

However, as close as we are, my friends know when someone needs some space to breathe for a bit. The best part is that if someone doesn't understand, everyone is easy to approach to discuss the more stressful parts of our day to day college life. I love them to death for that because I manage to own my independence within a close-knit friend group like ours. My friends understand and accept me for who I am, and I thank God every day for putting them into the rambunctious mess that I call life.