As a sophomore in high school who was trying to juggle school and her hectic cheerleading schedule, a job was probably the last thing I needed to add to my to-do list. In the long-run, my job was the best choice I could have made. Starting out, I assumed these people I called my co-workers would simply keep that title, and they would just be people I saw for a couple hours a week. But boy was I wrong. I found out things I had in common with them besides just making fun of dumb questions customers ask, or something stupid that another co-worker did. I found my co-workers slowly gravitating towards a new title…friends. As time went on and having worked with some of them for four and a half years, they have fully gone from people I was scheduled to see, to people I actually want and go out of my way to see.

They became people I invited out on the lake with my family. They became people I cried with at the loss of another co-worker. They became people I went to the county fair with. They became people I have movie nights and dinner dates with. They became my go-to people to hit up the mall with. They became people I went on mini-road trips with. They became people I drove seven hours with to take on Walt Disney World with. I know, after reading that you’re thinking, “what kind of co-workers do you have?!” And all I can respond with is: “The best.”

I see memes all of the time on social media about hating your co-workers, and yes, sometimes I do. For the most part though they have become the people I come home from college and get excited about seeing. I’ve made so many memories with them that the thought of having possibly never known them seems quite bizarre.

I’m forever thankful for going to my job interview on whim my sophomore year just because I thought it might be something fun to try to piece into my schedule, but I couldn’t be more thankful, because I’ve found friends who don’t plaster on a face, but are who they are, and who want to be friends with me by choice, not because of an assigned seating chart in a class. My co-workers went from people I only texted when I needed a shift covered to people that Snapchat has deemed my “best friends.” They are people I text on a regular basis whether it’s about work, school, or etc.

I’m forever thankful for all of my co-workers even on the days where they make me want to pull my brains out. My co-workers were and are some of the best friends I’ve made, and I’m so thankful to have experienced high school and college with them by my side.

My job has taught me numerous skills I will carry out into the workforce once I’m out of college, but the best thing it has taught me is that some of the best friends you will make in life come in ways that you will least expect.