When I first came to campus, I never imagined that I would ever find people who clicked with me just as well as my friends back home. I came to school thinking that friends were going to be made very easily because that's what everybody said coming in. However, I realized during welcome weekend that friends are not that easy to come by. Girls can still be vicious, some people are only going to want to be your friend to try to find out where the party is, and some never got out of the cliquey phase in high school. As me and my one friend from back home slowly gathered ourselves and lifted our spirits and discouraged bodies off of my dorm bedroom floor during welcome weekend, we realized that everything would fall into place.
After the initial day or two of welcome weekend, you will find friends. Although, a lot of the friends you think you make during this weekend will not be around a couple months down the road. These friends will not be the ones that stay in your life. They are meant to be the people who are your cushion while you are easing your way into this new, crazy environment.
Sometimes you don't meet your friends at a party. Sometimes you meet your friends on the way to a party, but you never end up at a party. You continue to walk around aimlessly because you are lost and were given bad directions, but you find yourself outside of a house where people are grilling hot dogs, and all of a sudden you're all eating these hot dogs and you realize everything has fallen into place. These are the friends that are going to stick around. These friends will be there for you when you realize that you signed up to live with a crazy roommate, and they help you pack up all of your belongings and let you move into their room. These friends will be there for you when everything is falling apart or school is too stressful and you just need to cry. These friends will be there to forgive you when you're crabby because they know you're stressed and just need to sleep, even when your crabbiness is unnecessary. These friends will be there to get you out of your pajamas and out of your bed to come hang out with them. These friends will also be there for you with snacks and a Disney movie on a school night when you just need a break. These friends will put up with you and your boyfriend, and even like him almost as much as you do yourself. These friends are forever.
I never knew how much fun it was going to be to find people to watch Disney movies with when you are almost twenty years old, but they find a way to make you feel like a kid. If you are as lucky enough as I am, you will find some of your truest friends your freshman year of college. You are the friends that made me thankful that I was laying on the floor of my dorm bedroom wondering if I was ever going to make friends here, because when I found you guys it was well worth the wait.
