Our friends are people who compliment us. People who do similar things to what we do and probably think the same way, too. We've all heard of a "little friendly competition," but what about a little friend competition?

Growing up playing the same sports, being in the same classes, and doing the same extracurriculars as my best friends I couldn't help but compare what I was doing to what my friends were doing, to what they were achieving. But we didn't let this consume our friendship. That little rivalry amongst our group kept everyone striving to be a better version of themselves, and I'm so thankful for the person that my friends made me to be.

After a year of college, I heard new friend after new friend talk about how he or she had no intentions of keeping relationships with friends from high school. This was such a foreign concept to me. Upon moving to college, I missed my friends the same way that I missed my family (if not a little bit more, sorry fam). I couldn't imagine not having friends to welcome me home, to visit over Christmas break, and to play endless games with at the tennis courts of our alma mater. They taught me that you can compete highly on the court or in the classroom with your friends, but still have the same banter as soon as you switch your shoes.

My high school friends ruled. They challenged me in my faith, in my school, in my sports. We held each other accountable to not get back together with that awful ex-boyfriend who had way too many chances. We made each other laugh at the lunch table after possibly flunking a test in 3rd period. Each day was always an adventure with the Lunch Bunch. When one of us was down, the others rallied around them. Through sibling fights, parent frustrations, and break ups. They were always there. They always had my back.

And then we left for college. I had to find new friends who would treat me like family - who would treat me exactly how my high school friends still do today. I got the chance to start over with the creation of a beautiful friendship. I always knew that my high school friends would be there as soon as I needed them, but the new college friends got to see me in a new light. We got to have so many "firsts" together. So many new and wild tastes of freedom with a new person by my side. You don't realize how lucky you had it in high school, though, until you hear that friend say, "I wish that I had friends like this in high school." I can't imagine not having that community surrounding me through the Friendswood High School halls for four years, and for many years before that. My high school friends were one of a kind, irreplaceable, and forever a major piece of my heart.

So to my high school friends, thank you for constantly pushing me even if you didn't know that that's what you were doing. Thank you for pursuing a friendship with me. Thank you for supporting me through the years of growing up. And to my college friends, thank you for welcoming me into your life. Thank you for listening to me explain issues that probably seemed so tiny at the time. Thank you, in advance, for the years that are to come. I hope that one-day college friends and high school friends can collide and see how well each of you have taught me to love. Thank y'all for the competition amongst friends that made me into a better version of myself.