I wish I was one of those people who could say she was still close to the girls she met the first week of freshman year of college. Someone who was still living with her freshman random roommate, who was going to graduation with the same people who helped her move in. And thankfully, I have one girl who is that person. The one who has been there since day one and will take on the rest of my life with me.

But my freshman year group wasn’t just one girl. It was nine of us who spent every second together. Nine of us who lived on the same floor, used the same bathrooms, hated on the bitchy girls on our floor, went out together, pre-gamed together, went to the hospital together (more times then we should have) and spent Sunday morning playing catch-up together. So this is to you, we may not be close anymore but I have to say Thank you.

Thank you for accepting each other from day one,

I came in as an awkward freshman who didn’t know how to make friends and was convinced I would be alone for at least the first month and honestly, I think most of us were the same way. But somehow one of you got the nerve, stopped by my room and said “a bunch of us are going to get dinner wanna come?” and even though I didn’t know your name, I said yes. So we sat in the lounge, trying to remember names and what room each of us were and making fun of the weird ways we eat pizza or what we got from Wawa. So, all of a sudden, we weren’t so awkward anymore, we weren’t alone, and if we were at least we were alone together.

Thank you for the nights out.

I didn’t know how to “go-out.” I didn’t have the clothes, I didn’t know where the houses were, I didn’t know what to mix with, and I had probably never taken a shot before, but you taught me. You stood by my side, laughed with me, and ordered the midnight pizza. You helped me into bed, gave me water, and tied back my hair. You let me borrow your clothes, you made the pre-game playlist, and accepted when I didn’t make it past the pregame. You helped give me the real freshman year experience.

Thank you for the nights in.

For the nights it was too cold, too rainy, or we just didn’t want to get out of our pajamas. I could always count on you to move someone’s TV into the lounge to watch a dumb movie, to order too much food, or to go annoy the boys on the other side of the hallway. Or the times we decided to be good students and actually do homework, we could lay on the floor for hours, talking and getting minimal work done. But we were always laughing.

Thank you for the group chat.

I could always count on my phone to have 100 weird messages from our group chat. Which including gifs, insults, four sets of plans, and someone always saying “I locked myself out, can someone let me in.” It never failed to make me laugh or to give me someone to go eat in the cafe with.

Thank you for the long talks.

Whether it was about missing home, break-ups, hook-ups, family drama, friend drama, or how much we hate every class we are in. I could always count on you to listen to me bitch at 3pm or 3am, most likely sitting in the middle of the hallway, where someone else would walk out and just join the conversation. Everyone always needed their time to bitch and someone was always there to listen.

Thank you for the birthdays and holidays.

For girls who didn’t have cars, couldn’t use candles in the room, and couldn’t really decorate, we always had pretty awesome holidays. Complete with cake, decorations, presents, and a night out. We counted down to midnight so we could all celebrate birthdays before going to bed and we would sing just loud enough so the RAs wouldn’t get mad. We found creative ways to follow the rules but still get into the holiday spirit. You made the hardest thing about being away from the family, so much easier.

Thank you for leaving doors unlocked.

Probably not our safest plan but it was nice to never have to knock, to walk in, lay down in your bed with you and just talk (or more likely sleep). Or to know when I needed to borrow that really cute skirt and you were in class, I could still go get it. When I just wanted to say hi or needed food, I just had to turn the door knob. I knew I always had a place to stay when I got sexiled.

Thank you for always caring.

No matter the situation, if someone was hurt, sad, sick, or a combination of it all, you were all there. You could always count on someone to run to Walgreens to buy you Gatorade when you woke up feeling terrible, or someone to take the Ambulance ride with you when you got hurt, or someone to cry to when a dumb boy broke your heart. Nothing was easy but having people who came in probably every half hour to check on you, made it a little easier

Thank you for being you.

No one could ever say Freshman year is perfect, believe me you think it is and than you get to senior year and realize it just keeps getting better. But I can thank you for all of the times you were there for me when I didn't deserve it, when I just needed a friend, and when you were still there when we fought and I swore to god I was never going to speak to you again. And even though we haven't spoken in months, i know if it came down to it, you would still be there.

I wish you the best of luck with Graduation and everything that comes after. You deserve the world and I will not be surprised when you are crazy successful in whatever you do. I could never say thank you enough for helping start my college career off right. I love you, always.

Dedicated to the 3rd Floor Right Nut Girls of 2013-2014. You will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you.