I'm going be honest here, because sometimes it's OK to be brutally honest. Not just to yourself, but to other people as well. I've learned that one of the best ways to make myself feel better is to stop bottling everything up. This may seem like a random topic, but I know how stressful life, especially in college, can be. Sometimes I get stressed to the point where I can't even start making progress because I get too anxious. Opening up to my friends, no matter how weird it may have been at first, was one of the things that really helped me get through my first semester. Honestly, I thought for a minute that I was gonna lose it. I dealt with the loss of my great-grandmother last summer, then went through the major change of moving out and learning to be on my own, and towards the end of the semester, I lost my job and it felt like everything was collapsing around me.

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Opening up and being honest can be scary and emotional. It may seem impossible at first, but I promise it's better than keeping everything bottled up. I made this mistake for months and tried to hold my emotions in because I didn't want to be a burden. But that's what friends are for, and when you find real ones that care about you and love you, it'll be a lot easier to open up and be honest. Growing up, I always had friends from many different social circles. But I've learned that it's so important to find just a couple of super close best friends that will listen to you and be honest with you about how to handle situations. I wouldn't know what to do without my closest friends that I go out of my way to share my life with. (And if you're reading this, you know who you are; thank you a million times for always being here).

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The inspiration and reasoning behind why I'm writing this article is actually because of recently when a good friend and I were riding in the car talking about life and instead of going home, we decided to keep driving around and just talk. We told each other stories and talked about what was bothering us, and then shared our best advice with each other. I was the most honest with him than I have been with anyone in a while; I really just opened up about life: family, friends, my relationship, just everything, and he did the same. I didn't know I needed that, but the relief I felt when I stepped out of the car was so amazing. Sometimes you really just need to talk about things in order to accept them. It's easy to let life keep piling up on you before you decide to open up, but I promise it helps. If it weren't for my ability to open up to my friends, I would've hit a breaking point a really long time ago. Two really is better than one, and that doesn't only apply to romantic relationships. So next time instead of locking yourself up in your room when you're upset, seek out a friend. Take advantage of the fact that this really is what friends are for.

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