Imagine it's the end of your freshman year of college. That's already happened for some of you and will happen for others. Imagine you had the best year ever and have made some of the best friends in the world. You can't wait until next year to escape the freshman persona and begin a whole new era of you and your squad. You had a phenomenal roommate, an awesome hall, and a great core of friends.

Then, imagine that changing. That structure that was built by the end of freshman year has shifted into something new. Two weeks into sophomore year, or junior, or senior, you realize that friend groups change, and you have to adjust. As I have told countless people, "It's not bad; it's just different."

My awesome, crazy, beautiful, and inspiring roommate named Maggie, is not my roommate this year. I mean, she will always be my roommate because I now have suitemates, and she has a co-RA. Roommates for life! But through living away from one another, we have lost something. We no longer come home together at 2 a.m after a random adventure to the waterfalls late at night (inside joke: it was lit). There are fewer conversations that keep us up too late and more meeting up for 15 minutes between classes. It becomes a lot harder to catch up, based solely on the fact that we don't come home to the same room every night. Don't get me wrong, my suite-mates are top-of-the-notch, and I still see Maggie usually every day (or at least every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 50 minutes in Civ Arts). It's fine. It's fine.

My friends have changed too, and the saddest part is that it's not even on purpose. It's sad that a lunch time, a free hour and a 3 p.m. class can make a difference if you see someone or not. I have found that you really need to put in effort to see people, or you won't see them at all. I guess that's a good thing because it helps build stronger relationships, and we learn the reality that relationships of any kind have to come from effort and not be based on convenience. I am grateful to have been put in a position to learn that.

That said, I am grateful for my new friend group that is taking form, and the core that I will always have. I am thankful that I am at a place where acquaintances become new friends, old friends become best friends, and best friends stay best friends (and roommates) forever. I'm grateful that I am in a place where you can come to a cafeteria and sit with new people and make new acquaintances. It's not bad; it's just different.

This doesn't mean that your freshmen friends won't be your friends after a while. If they are close enough, they will always be your friends. Hours and time spent together doesn't matter; you just pick up where you left off. That's the greatest thing about friends. No matter where you go, or who you meet next, it doesn't change that they were there with you once before. Those memories you made with them don't go away. They became where you went for fun and who you knew to do fun things with. That will never change. This doesn't mean you shouldn't make new friends too, though. Expand your circles! People are awesome. As it's been said, the more the merrier!

My advice to anyone in their freshman year, or any year, is just to enjoy the groups you're in while they're there. Through time and other circumstances, new people will become your crew, and that's okay. It's good to broaden your circles. All it takes is some effort, and friendships last a long time. Because friends, real friends, do last forever.