I'm thankful for moving to UNCW this year without knowing many people. I wanted my fresh start and wanted to make all new friends. It took time, but it happened eventually.

I'm thankful for the Creative Writing department here and how small it is. I take two or three classes a week with some people. Some I talk to only in class, some I've begun to text outside, grab food with, or hang out.

I'm thankful for literary agent Christopher Rhodes because his lecture one day in my publishing class made me realize I possibly wanted to be an agent. He told me that the previous girl he had spoken with had said the same thing about wanting to be an editor but deciding she wanted to be a literary agent instead. I somehow got that girl's number and texted her that we could read manuscripts if we wanted to. I figured she would be like me and want the experience.

I'm thankful for Atlantis, the creative magazine here, because I stayed after one meeting to talk to that girl (she's an editor on staff) about a homework assignment (she's one of the people I have two classes with and see her almost every day of the week). We stayed and talked for maybe an hour after the meeting. That was the day I think our friendship actually started.

I'm thankful for Tuesday nights in general because you let me join in your tradition of watching poorly-rated movies on Netflix. You let me pet your cat, hang out with your roommates, and talk about how much I love Chinese food as we laugh at how good (or bad) the movie is.

I'm thankful that I was able to trust you really easily. We became close pretty quickly, and I felt like I could be completely open with you about everything (it's because you're a Nonfiction concentration, let's be real). We started talking all the time and planning when we were going to hang out after classes or Atlantis. You made me go to a Writers Week event that I really didn't have time for just because you wanted me there. I asked if you needed to stay anywhere during the hurricane or Thanksgiving because we just felt like such good friends and, like you said about the event, I just wanted you there.

I'm thankful that you're a creative person. I like that we can just sit in the library and write and edit stories or articles for hours on end--or only 30 minutes because apparently Randall closes at 6 p.m. on Fridays. Speaking of which, I'm thankful that you can put up with me for an entire day. I mean, that one Tuesday that we literally spent all day with each other? It was great, even if we didn't talk for a lot of it. It's nice to just have a friend there in case you want someone to talk to or need an opinion on something.

I'm thankful that you unconsciously called me your best friend the other night. It was super lame because we had been hanging out for a couple of hours and all we had been talking about were our initials and then bam, you said we were meant to be best friends. (I'll leave out as to why our initials mean we're meant to be best friends; it's kind of vulgar.) It was nice to know that all of this hanging out we've been doing and life planning and writing has payed off in the form of a friendship.

I'm thankful for fast friendships. I'm thankful that we clicked right away and then were just all of the sudden friends. I'm glad we can talk about anything, hang out without actually talking to each other, and share life stories. I'm thankful that you don't (showingly) get annoyed with my serial texts when I'm not sure what to do about something (or everything, because I know that happens a lot).

I know this sounds like a love letter...and I guess in a really odd way it is? (Yay, friendship love letters!) I make friends easily, but it's hard for me to consider someone a best friends.

According to Tim Bass, we are Back-a and Ca-ray...well, Back-a, I'm thankful to have you because you make life better.