When the going gets tough, you always have your friends to lean on. Whether it be the friends you have known for your whole life or the friends you have just met, sometimes they can be the only thing keeping you sane during your worst moments.
While this is true in high school and at any age, it is especially true in college. College is one of the biggest transitions we go through in life and because of this, the friends we make during college are the best friends we will ever have.
We are far away from home for the first time in our lives. When we go through major life changes, it is the first time we do not have our immediate family readily available to help us through it.
Instead, we must rely on our new family: our friends on campus.
These friends are the ones we have met in class, down the hall, or in a variety of organizations.
They will be the friends knocking down your door to help you pick up all the broken pieces of your latest disaster.
Friends, good friends, are the ones who will take you out into the parking lot at 11:00 p.m. to scream at absolutely nothing. They force you to go to dinner when you have been too depressed to eat.
Friends, the best kind, take you in when you just cannot be alone. They take you out at midnight to run around in the snow because you love the snow. Sometimes, they take you on random adventures to places you have never been before.
Bottom line, friends pick you up when you are down.
Friends, good friends, help you move on when you feel as though you are stuck. They take good pictures of you to flaunt on social media.
Friends, the best kind, gather in your room for an impromptu "moving on" ceremony. They bring you pictures to replace the ones you cannot look at anymore. Sometimes, they may even cut your hair to give you a much-needed change of style.
Bottom line, friends get you out of that rut and push you right on your way.
When everything is changing, friends are the one constant you can count on.
Never, ever take these friends for granted. These are the people holding you up. They are the earth you stand on and the gravity keeping you grounded.
They are not the people you forget about when you have a significant other. Do not ever pass up on time with them for someone who is just passing through.
Tell them you appreciate them. Help them when they are struggling too. Together, we are the support system that will get each other through college. And, on graduation day, these are the people you will thank. They are the ones who got you through when you could have sworn that nothing would.
On graduation day, you will look at each other with a smile and nod to each other, acknowledging the everlasting friendships you formed together. You will look back at these four years on all the bad days and all the good days. You will be glad for all of it. Those are the moments you shared together.
Your friends on campus are the ones you will remember 60 years from now. Consider yourself blessed.
