You walk down a dark hallway and arrive at your room: 555. You struggle with the lock and open the door. What welcomes you is a room with white cinderblock walls and ancient furniture. Terrified, you wonder how you’ll ever be able to call this dorm room your home for the next nine months. After everything’s said and done, you hold back the tears as you give your parents one final goodbye hug. As they leave the room you realize you are completely, and utterly alone. I cannot begin to explain how strange it is to be sitting in an unfamiliar room wondering how you’ll be able to live in a place where nobody knows who you are. Millions of questions swarm your head as you begin to grow more frantic, but there’s one question that crosses every incoming freshman’s head: will I make any friends?

There’s a fear in realizing that nobody knows who you are, and nobody knows what you were like in high school. Essentially I could be whoever I wanted, but in the end, who I wanted to be was myself. Suddenly, my phone vibrated, taking me away from my anxious thoughts. I looked at my phone and breathed a sigh of relief. A girl who I had messaged this past winter asked me if I wanted to explore Madison, and luckily I took her up on that offer. Now, she is one of my closest friends here.

The next day, the girl across from me moved in and I knew I had found a true friend. Her bright, blonde hair and welcoming smile made me feel instantly at ease, although initially she thought I was intimidating (what can I say, we Chicagoans often are). Finally, kids began to shuffle in as the days passed and I began to realize that college wasn’t going to be as scary as I imagined. With time, I met the most amazing individuals, and I found the most extraordinary friends on my floor of Witte 5B.

My roommate ended up being the most caring girl I have ever known, and things began to just fall into place. Now, it’s the beginning of finals week and I am realizing that I don’t think I would have made it without the friends I have made here at school. In college, you are never alone. You are surrounded by people at every hour of the day, and this gives others a chance to see you in your brightest and darkest hours. Your friends are by your side when you fail an exam, jog a 5K, or receive a call that your best friend has been in an accident. Your friends are by your side through the laughs, and the cries, and in these past four months you form a relationship with them that is virtually unbreakable. In high school, you saw your friends for six hours a day and sometimes on the weekends. At college, you are with your friends for the long haul, and that is something amazing in itself.

Looking back on these four months, I feel nothing but the utmost love and respect for the individuals who have made my first semester at school truly memorable. All I can really say is thank you, and I truly could not have done it without you. Thank you for spending your Friday nights with me, cuddling on a futon and binge watching Netflix. Thank you for pushing me to go to Zumba classes, and putting up with the millions of complaints and excuses I tried to make along the way. Thank you for giving me the best hugs, the kind of hugs that make me feel protected and loved. Thank you for making me laugh so much I swore I almost tinkled. Thank you for being you. And thank you for letting me be me.

Now, as I look around my brightly lit dorm, with the flannel blankets, colorful pillows, and a pile of snacks, I feel at home. Four months ago, I didn’t think I would ever be able to say this, but I have found another family at my home away from home. And all I can really say is thank you, thank you for making this transition a heck of a lot easier. I love you all.