Let me preface this with a little description of what makes somebody a bad bitch. According to Urban Dictionary, a Bad Bitch is…

1. A female who knows what she wants and knows exactly how to get it.

2. A female who is always ready for anything physically, emotionally, and also intellectually (aka she is book smart AND street smart).

3. She is a self-respecting, motivated, strong female who has everything together.

Synonyms for Bad Bitch include, but are not limited to; go-getter, girl boss, QUEEN, and of course, 'Yoncé.

You might use the term in a sentence like…

"Yo, Kaitlyn has a 4.0 GPA, she's a starter on the volleyball team, and she started a non-profit! She's a total Bad Bitch!" Or, "You know that Bad Bitch, Haley? Yeah, she just roasted her ex (to his face) decided to double major and graduate a year early and is going to get her 11th-grade dance body back by working out like twice a day! What a QUEEN."

We all know some Bad Bitches, whether they're your mom, the girl on your high school basketball team who took you under her wing, or a group of you and your BFFs.

They make you feel good about yourself, they're confident, they're your biggest hype girls, and they inspire you to be better, every single day.

I have been friends with the same group of girls since I was in elementary school. We have always been family oriented, athletic, authentic, and never had any interest in parties or typical high school shenanigans. During high school, we started branching out a little bit. Some of us did Running Start, others made more friends, and for some of us, our priorities shifted. Ultimately we have always remained each other's go-to's.

Last year, we went off to college. Two of us at Western, one at Whitworth, another at Oregon State, some at WSU, and one went to PLU. Most of us didn't really talk much for the entire year, and we mostly stayed up-to-date with each other's lives via social media.

Last week, we all met up for coffee for the first time in a year and it was like nothing had changed. We were all catching up and talking about how our first year of college went, and I realized what total Bad Bitches I have surrounded myself with. Two of the girls are engineering majors, another is a psychology major, we have an economics major, and communications major.

My best friend plays lacrosse, is going to be an RA next year, is in the engineering program at her school, and bought/set-up a full-size trampoline in front of her dorm last year with virtually no fear of getting written up.

Talking to my old friends made me so proud to know them and motivated me to strive for bigger and better things.

This year, I have realized that you truly are who you surround yourself with. I made some questionable friendship choices during my first year of college, that made me someone who younger me probably would have rolled her eyes at. But I know where my roots are and I know who to go to if I need to unleash my inner Bad Bitch.

Who your friends are is a reflection of you. Do you want to be surrounded by passive, mean, immature, people? Or do you want to be surrounded by Rihanna-channeling, confident, hilarious lady-bosses who get ish done and want to hang out with you in settings that don't always involve you doing a "photo shoot" and taking pictures of them? *Rolls eyes*

Let me get to the point here, if you want to be better, surround yourself with people who are going to make you better.

I lucked out and found my core group when we were little, but I've found more amazing people in classes that I've taken, clubs that I'm part of, and of course, Odyssey! By getting involved in stuff that you are interested in and that you enjoy, you will meet more like-minded people who are just like you and who want the absolute best for you.

So get out there and do you, boo. If you want to be a Bad Bitch, surround yourself with them.