For most of my life, I never truly had someone to call my “best friend”. In elementary school I knew a lot of kids and mostly traveled in circles due to parent arranged play dates. Middle school was an absolute blur of on/off friendships that mostly ended after 8th grade was over. By the time high school came around I had surrounded myself with new friends, but still felt like I didn’t quite fit. I never would have thought that two years later, I would find myself at camp meeting someone who would end up my best friend.

When I came to camp, they told me I would be staying in a cabin with some counselor in training volunteers, which I honestly wasn’t thrilled with at first, but being the only minor on staff I was glad to finally be staying with other people. Over that week I became good friends with a girl named Emma. That was two years ago and now she’s more like my sister. I don’t even know where to begin when describing our friendship. People don’t really think a lot about friendships, because it’s just another person to hang out with. However, there are some friendships that are constantly there in the back of your mind. These are the friendships that you care about and the friends that are going to be around for a long time.

I can't even begin to express how much you mean to me. You mean the world and then some. You mean the hours of conversation about everything and nothing that we've had, and you mean enough to me that I feel comfortable coming to you to talk about the horrible days that are enough to make me cry. It's not because I want to show you that, but because I know that you want to be there for me the most on those days.

You are one of the most thoughtful people I have ever met. You go above and beyond to make sure other people happy, even if you are having a bad day. Even as I write this, I'm looking at what you made me before I left for college, and the notes that came with it. You are so genuinely sweet (well, except when you make your snide remarks that are perfectly timed). Even if you don't always understand me or what I'm going through, I know that you are still going to care.

The past couple weeks have been difficult for me, because you have been going through a lot. This being said, I have tried to push you to talk to me, which makes it difficult for you. I know that sometimes you feel like nothing good is going to come of anything, and you struggle to believe in yourself.

I just want you to know that I believe in you, even when you don’t. I believe that you are capable of doing whatever you set your mind to, and that you'll do it with passion, strength, and dignity. You deserve the best that life can offer. I’ll be there for you when everything is falling apart and when everything finally falls into place. As you continue your senior year, I remind you to keep your head up, even on the worst days and I will see you soon.