I counted down the days till move in since graduation. I was so ecstatic to get on campus and start my grown-up college life. After my parents and I said our goodbyes on move-in day and I stood in a disheveled shoebox of a dorm room, I stood there and smiled. This was it, I was completely independent. Until a few hours later when I realized I was hungry and had nobody to go with me to the dining hall. Not to be dramatic but...I cried. From that first lonely night till now, a lot has changed, but the most important thing that happened to me was that I developed some lifelong friendships in people that I now call my family.

So Dear Friends,

I am so thankful that for some reason all of our paths lead us to one another. We were all weird and fun loving from the start and that was how I knew our friendships would last. Not everyone meets their best friends in the first few days of college, let alone 7 of them. I appreciate each and every one of you. There is no way I would have made it through the highs and lows of freshman year without you.

Thank you for showing who you were on the inside from the very beginning and not putting up a facade to try to impress anyone. Thanks for making me laugh, a lot. There are so many memories and stories that I will never forget because of you guys. Whenever I think back to some of them, I cannot help but smile. I am grateful for your open hearts and our late night talks. Having close friends that you can talk to about literally anything in the world is so rewarding and something I never realized would be so important to me.

Doing everything together from dropping each other off at classes, eating meals together, going shopping, or simply studying, we were more than just average friends. We became family. We all were each other's support group as we made the start to our adult lives while living many miles away from the home we grew up in. I will never look back on our time together in our freshman year dorm and not have some of the best memories of my life. I have met so many great people in college and so many amazing friends, but to my best friends from freshman year, I will always be most grateful for you. There is no doubt in my mind that we were all meant to meet each other and enjoy this experience together.

Thank you to my best friends for teaching me to sing, dance, and be silly at all cost, because life's more fun when you're laughing.

Your Freshman Year Best Friend