College is the time where you get to meet a tremendous amount of new people and start fresh. However, for some of us we get the ability to start college with our best friends from home. Just like everyone else I was so excited to come to 'Cuse. It was a new place with so many new experiences ahead of me. I was nervous to make all new friends but then I realized that I had a security blanket with me, my best friend. She had known for a lot longer than I had that she would go to Syracuse. When I decided to go to Syracuse it was a big surprise for both of us and at first we were not completely sure how to react.
At first we were both unsure of how to go about it. How often would we see each other? Would we make the same friends? It was a lot of confusion but at the same time it was amazing. For the next four years I would get to be with my best friend, my person.
We constantly get asked by people from home and from school why we aren't roommates. I think it is so much better that we aren't. We get to have space away from each other so we can make our own friends and do our own thing but when we need that comfort or just to lay together and laugh, we can do that within minutes.
We have figured out how to spend time both together and separately at college. We'll see each other in the dining hall and occasionally eat together. We share weekend plans and run into each other out but we do not usually plan to go out together. We try to go out with our new friends and make those new connections. It's also great though because we know the other's new friend groups and are friendly with them. There is no time apart and no worrying about a gap in our friendship. We can talk about anything and not only listen but genuinely relate. It is something people are lucky to get to experience.
New friends are amazing and I love my new friends at college but it is still different. If I feel homesick or just want my best friend, I can have that. I don't need to see a screen but I can see her face. We also have the added bonus of getting to borrow each other's clothes, something we were not excited to lose if we went to different colleges.
Coming into college with your best friend might seem difficult and people may think that it means we won't branch out. I promise you will find new people. You will find your friends at school. If you are lucky enough to go to college with your best friend, embrace it. Embrace the confusion it brings. Embrace the questions from your friends at home and your friends at school. More than anything, embrace the endless love you have from your best friend and the fact that they are your home away from home. Thank you to my person for being my little piece of home while at Syracuse.
