To my favorite seniors,

You know who you are. As we quickly approach spring, I cringe every time someone mentions “graduation.” Not because I am graduating and have to go out into the real world, but because you are graduating. As scary as it must be for you to go, it’s just as scary for me to think about being in this college world without you by my side.

I met you through clubs, classes and residence life—and all just by chance. What would I have done without you? I never would have thought that my closest friends in college would be older than me. When you come to college, age doesn't matter and personalities click. Interests unite us together, and bonds mean so much more than being born within the same 12 months.

We have had great times together. You’ve cooked for me, you’ve driven me to the store and you’ve been there when it felt like nothing would turn out right. You have shown me how to have fun without going crazy. You never let me fall through the cracks in a much bigger world than high school. I owe my college experience to you.

To the ones I met as a freshman—thank you for your guidance. Thank you for taking me under your wings and for providing me with a safe space to grow, to learn and to make mistakes without judging me because you had just been there yourself.

To the ones I met later on—my biggest regret of college is not meeting you sooner. When I think about all of the time I spent in college not knowing you, I can’t imagine what that will be like now that I have grown so close to you.

I am so proud of you. I know that you will all do amazing things in your chosen fields. I hope that one day I am lucky enough to have one of you as my nurse, as my counselor or as my computer support technician. While I trust you to be all of these things for me, I hope you will always be my friend. I know that life gets crazy, and it will get even crazier for you after graduation. Know that I will always be here for you, and I will always be cheering you on.

I hope that in a year when I am in your position, I can be as great of a person as you are. If I can get to that point in my life and impact just one younger person the way you have impacted me, I will consider my life a success.

I can’t wait to spend these last few months with you here. We will have so many more memories because we have the rest of our lives to explore life together. College brought us together, but it is only the beginning of our friendship.

Please don’t forget about me when you leave. Never lose sight of the person that you are right at this moment because you honestly could not be any better. I love you so much, everything about you. You are going to do amazing things in this world.

Love,

Your baby friend