Dear Friends,

I have gone through this year, busy as ever with things like school and work, while also trying to maintain a healthy social life. But I have been doing some thinking about you guys and what all of you mean to me. Even though some of our friendships took a turn for the worse or didn't go exactly as planned, I am still beyond thankful for you being a part of my life.

Each one of you, old and new, have not only taught me something about myself but also many life lessons that I use every day. Each of you has brought something for me to hold onto, physically and mentally, making me not only a stronger person but incredibly thankful for every single one of you.

To my new friends,

You guys have stepped into my life recently, but I feel like we have known each other for our entire lives. It is crazy to me that you can become so close, so fast, to someone that you didn't know five months ago.

Even though we haven't been friends for that long, you made these past few months incredibly memorable. From late night trips to the store to get a blanket that we just needed to get, to spontaneous trips across the state to go to a concert that we happened to get free tickets to the night before, you guys have taught me the importance of being spontaneous, that my grades or my GPA don't define me, or even that it is OK to treat myself once in a while.

But at the end of the day, I can never express how thankful that I have you guys by my side. You have made this major change in my life so much easier. If I didn't have you in my life, I wouldn't be the person I am today which makes me even more excited for what is to come for our friendship.

To my old friends,

Looking back at our friendship, we have been through a lot together from things like starting high school, graduating, and now, going to different colleges across the state. Even though we don't talk every day like we used to, I am incredibly thankful for everything that you have done for me, especially for sticking by my side through thick and thin. From going to Friday night football games, to going to the mall on the weekends, or catching up over a cup of coffee, I am so thankful that I have you to always remind me to see the positives in every situation, laugh as much as possible, even if it was at myself, or just be there to listen to me vent about something that I am probably over-reacting about.

Even though we haven't talked in a while, I want you to know that you will always be one of my best friends and that I will always be here for you no matter what life throws at us. I know that we don't talk as much as we would like to due to our busy schedules, but I know as soon as we do get a second to catch up, we will pick right up where we left off like nothing changed (because it hasn't).

To my ex-friends,

Although you were not in my life as long as I expected you to be, due to changing circumstances on both ends, I am still thankful for the time that you did spend in my life. I will admit, there are still days that I wish we were still best friends, but I know, even though it took me a while to realize, that we are no longer friends for a reason much bigger than only losing contact with each other.

Looking back on our friendship together, I want to thank you for all of the memories and being there for me even when I insisted that I was OK even though we both knew that I wasn't. Thank you for having me call you when I got back home so you knew that I got home safely, or our late night trips to the cafeteria, or even dragging me to see a superhero movie that I had no interest in, which, I'll admit, is still one of my favorite movies to this day. Even though we don't talk anymore, I am lucky that we were part of each others' lives.

Even though some of you may have been in my life only for a short period of time, while others will be in my life for a long time to come, I want all of you to know that I am thankful for our friendships and the everlasting impact that you made on my life. As I mentioned before, without you guys I wouldn't have learned some of the most important life lessons in my life thus far.

Sincerely,

Your new/old/ex-friend