One of the most interesting things I learned in college came from my friend Vedant who is from India. He told me one night, that a huge difference between people in India and people in the US is how they treat their friends. He said to me, " In India friends are family, and you guys are my family." Ever since that day, I have looked at my friends in a new light. Vedant has taught me to value friendships in a new way.
When you go to college, it is the first time in your life that you're completely on your own. You have to plan your days on your own, you have to find food yourself, and you have to take care of yourself. The thing about this is that you have an entire campus of people going through the same thing. Everyone is trying to figure out who they are.
The thing I have learned is that if you find a group of people going through the same struggles as you, it will make life so much easier. I have developed friends that will last a lifetime. I see my friends every night for dinner, and we always hang out before going to bed just like a family does. We eat together, we are with each other all weekend, and we fight with each other, but that is normal for a family which is what these people have become.
The hardest part of college is being self-dependent and going through life without the people that have been there since day one. My friends may not have been there since day one, but I know they will be there every day from here on out because that is what family does.
So the greatest lesson I learned in college came from Vedant. He showed me that family doesn't have to be a blood relation, it is made up of people who will be there for you no matter what.
Photo by 
