On the list of things that should do at the end of your semester and at the beginning of summer (and always) is to thank the people that are there for you. Gratitude isn't usually people's top priority but maybe it should be. Take a moment to let the dust settle and think about how much has happened in the past year. Every struggle you’ve had, every mountain you’ve overcome, and every pivotal moment that you’ve encountered, someone else was there to share it with you.

So, let’s start off with your siblings, the ones you argue with more than anyone, who know exactly which buttons to press to make you go insane, but the ones who will always have your back no matter what. Younger or older they surely do not receive enough credit, just think about it, they had to live with you at some point and didn’t have a choice, so be easy on them.

Living with people is difficult and conflict may arise, but your roommates also deserve a bit of thanks. Thanks for putting up with all your late-night rants, for going to most every meal with you, and for being a good shoulder to cry on. Next, you may want to thank your friends who are always with you and also act as an outlet for your advice givers and your support system. Without them, you may not have been able to bounce back from the things that life has thrown at you.

The friends you made when you were younger that have stuck with you all these years deserve a lot of thanks as well. They were there through the braces and the selfies with your flip phone and they still loved you. These are the friendships that will last a lifetime and that you will cherish deeply.

The extended family that supports you through all your choices probably receives the least amount of thanks. The uncles who help you whenever you call, the aunts who always are there to make you laugh, the cousins who remind you how proud they are of you, and the grandparents who always spoil and love you no matter how old you get. We should let them know from time to time that their effortless love does not go unnoticed.

You are probably thinking, when is she going to thank her parents? Well, you have to save the best for last so now it is time to thank the people that created and shaped you into the person that you are today. Your parents deserve an award, not just a thank you, for being there from every scrapped knee to every life crises. Whether they’re bad or good, present or absent, hands-on or distant, your parents have affected the way that you are today.

Luckily, I am fortunate enough to have very strong parent figures in my life, they are my biggest supporters, the most loving people in my life, and the ones I look up to the most. I would not have been able to survive my first year of college and all of the struggles that have come with it without them.

So, thank you, mom and dad, my three obnoxious (but lovely) siblings, all of my extended family, and all of my friends, the new and the old, without you people I would not know what to do with myself.