Sophomore year was the year my life was radically transformed, and it was mostly because of you. The memories we share will forever be something I treasure for life. Although our lives have all parted ways, and we are now spread out across the country, I will always proudly call you my friend.
You taught me to enjoy life and relationships.
Freshman year was awkward. Everyone meeting everyone. The excitement and thrill of new "freedoms" and new people had everyone in a frenzy. Sophomore year is where we all began connecting and forming solid friendships with a small number of people. Our group was one I always looked forward to.
You brought healing for wounds of being bullied.
Believe it or not, you played a key role in enabling me to trust people again. Being bullied affects a person deep within. It causes a question to rise up asking, "What am I worth to others?". Your friendship, your love, your reliability, and your truth-speaking positively impacted me more than I will ever be able to say in words.
You showed me unconditional love.
Relationships are hard. They take work and sometimes we make mistakes and mess-up. Miscommunication and misunderstanding is always a risk. When I did fail or mess up, you never wavered in your love for your friend.
You exposed me to the joy of friendships.
Often times, its easy to fall into the mentality that "people suck". And while there are a lot of people who do, you are just a few of the millions who remind the world (and me) that there are still incredible and amazing people worth knowing.
You enabled me to be myself.
Because of who you are, and how you live, you made it possible for me to be myself. You always encouraged honesty and you yourself lived it. You caused me to be unashamed of who I am and live free.
You challenged me to grow as person and friend.
If there is one thing I am thankful for, it is that you challenged me to keep going and keep growing. Sophomore year was a year of maturing, pruning, and refining as an individual and you made it a journey worth embarking on.
You loved me well.
You loved me well and taught me how to love others well. From volunteering with organizations, long meaningful conversations around the campfire, to the moments of laughter, and the endless "inside jokes" - love is a verb, it is a feeling, it is a commitment to what matters most to you.
You made college the experience we all desire.
We grew up watching movies showing the friendships and incredible life experience college "would be". We all had various expectations, but in the end - it was you, your personality, your humor, your compassion, your spirit - you are what made college the experience every person hopes for.
You changed my life.
And you changed it for the better. The musical Wicked has a song, "For Good", and its lyrics capture many of the words, as well as the feeling I have because of knowing and living life with you sophomore year. I learned a ton from you, each of you played unique roles in impacting me in ways I can only hope to express in words in the time to come.
Thank you.
I hope and wish from the depths of my being you will know that I will be forever grateful for you, your friendship, and every experience & memory we share. Thank you for the best year of my life. Thank you for sharing and living life with me. I hope that our paths will cross again in our future. But know this, that even if we are never together again, I will always be rooting for & cheering you on.
