College. What can I say about it? It is not at all what I thought it would be. College is hard and intimidating, especially at first. The classes are harder than high school, and require much more outside preparation, especially for exams. The social life is also hard in the beginning, at least for an introvert like me.

Being away from my family is hard, and trying to achieve a balance where I can still be close to them is even harder. But college is not all stress. There are so many wonderful things and memories I have, even in the middle of nowhere, USA.

I love my life. It is flawed, for sure, but I am inexorably happy where I am. Some of my best memories are what one might think of as the “high points” of college life — getting through exams, going to a dance with a great guy, taking candid pictures with my best friends. However, some of my best memories are things I never expected, things the movies and books don't tell you about — like having my heart broken and being swarmed by the love of a dorm full of girls I didn't even know cared; or going to eat and realizing that there are many tables where I am accepted; or helping a teammate get ready for a first date; or dancing in the streetlight on a foggy night, singing (really screaming) along with Taylor Swift after a late night cook-out run with friends.

College is stressful, but it can be made so joyful by letting people into your life and allowing them to make a difference. To me, letting people into my life means more than talking about homework and my professors. I let people into my life now by actually telling them what is going on in my life — about the things that hurt me and the things that make me smile so much my cheeks hurt.

Find people you can have those kinds of relationships with, where you don't have to do anything but lie on the floor talking to have a good time. Find friends who encourage you academically and push you to expand, because we don't know everything yet. My parents have always told me that true friends will want what is best for me, even if it not what is best for them. By that definition, I had very few friends in high school, but I have so many now.

It wasn't necessarily the fault of the people I knew in high school; I need to partake in the blame because I did not really let them in, nor did I try to be let in. I just cruised along. But finding relationships that are special require effort and vulnerability. Honestly, in today's culture, we don't like vulnerability; we would rather be superficially happy and angry. But that is not what the scope of human emotion is meant to encompass.

True friendship should be sadness at another’s grief and real honesty about the things you are doing well, and not well, in your life. To have a real friend is to be able to talk to them, knowing they will be honest and might disagree, but won't leave you for your actions only.

So, I encourage everyone who reads this, whether you are in college or not, to go out and find real relationships. We are meant to have them, and when we find them we will realize that they are beautiful things.