We think the purpose of this life is to better ourselves. We need to go to college, get an education, be on our own, and care about ourselves. We are taught that if you are in a relationship, or can’t be without your friends, that you are dependent. That you are less of a person because you “don’t know yourself alone.” We are told that you won’t be able to function in the real world if you can’t be by yourself. We are told that we must live life selfishly—that we must be alone to figure out who we are.

I have come to realize recently, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to spend time with friends and the people you love—that wanting to not be alone isn’t a bad thing. Some people will look at me and think that I need to learn to function on my own without constant friends around me and something to do. It’s not that I can’t spend time alone… it’s that I don’t want to.

Life is so short. College goes by in the blink of an eye. I mean, it feels like yesterday that I was moving in for the first time, so afraid of what this university would offer me. Now, I can’t imagine myself anywhere else. I can’t imagine not being able to go to my apartment every day to my best friends. I can’t imagine not walking to class and having five different conversations along with the way with people I pass. I can’t imagine a weekend without singing songs with my friends and dancing like idiots. It makes me happy to simply be surrounded by people I love every day.

I am not in college to just get an education. I am here to connect with people. I want to form relationships with people, and relationships that actually mean something. I want to mean something to someone. Even if it’s just a handful of people… I want to impact peoples’ lives just as they have impacted mine.

I am sick of being told to live for myself and only myself. What kind of life is that? What kind of life would it be to make more money than I know what to do with, and live all alone? To come home every day to look at my degree and no one to talk to. I am all about being the best version of myself, but I think the best version of myself is the one spending time with the people I love so dearly.

Don’t live life selfishly. Live to love others. Take pictures and videos of the little moments. Go to lunch with a new person every day. Tell that one person how you feel. Just go for it. Go to that city you’ve always wanted to go to, and take your best friends. Cherish the time you have with others, because it can be gone before you even know it. Hug each other. Tell them you love them and how much they mean to you. Life is about loving. Life is about people.