It's another Thursday night. The halls of my dorm are filled with students dressed up, going out for a fun night in Uptown. Every girl has her hair and makeup done to perfection, clomping to the elevator in her four-inch heels with her date by her side. Beauty hurts, and they have come to terms with it.

It's another Thursday night. I have just gotten back from yoga and taken my beauty off for the day. My sweatpants have a hole in the knee, and my hair has been in a tangled ponytail for a little over four hours. My date is "Wuthering Heights." I have to read three more chapters before Tuesday, and there is no reason I should not get ahead.

Rosemary Binny

Well, I am trying to read.

I guess I should mention some of the other people sitting with me in the study room. Most would consider these people my college family, and I would have to agree. In the past twenty minutes alone, I have been distracted over a dozen times.

Olivia Leonardo

There was the dance break one of my friends had to a Fleetwood Mac song I have never heard of. There was the scary story another friend had to tell about being left on read. There was the mini emergency when the same friend got stuck while trying to flip herself off the lounge couch. There was the conversation about how underrated the vacuum cleaner from "Teletubbies" is. And there was the attempt to interpret what my recurring zombie dream was really about.

Our night is not enhanced through any substance, unless you count Oreos and Sour Patch Kids, but enjoyed with none other than ourselves. Most in our residence hall know us as nerds, and we are more than okay with that. We are the people you see camped out in the lounge for hours at a time in our pajamas as we binge-watch Halloween movies for an entire Saturday. We set aside a minimum of two hours for dinner because we know our conversations won't settle for anything less. We blow up each other's phones with memes and puns. We make the weirdest faces possible while wearing face masks. And we make a comedy of even the worst days.

We are a college family.

Brianna Mowery

No, we look nothing like how college is depicted in the movies. We do not spend every weekend at ragers, or even bother to leave our side of campus for the most part. But, you know what? We are living our best lives.

As the weekend approaches, I never worry whether or not I will have someone to hang out with. I never worry about having fun. And I never worry about being put in a situation I am uncomfortable with. Unlike many fake friendships (which are contagious in college,) we take care of one another. I don't think a group of fake friends would have wasted an entire Thursday afternoon helping me get ready for a date when the lock to my dorm broke and I couldn't get to any of my makeup. When one person is stressed, we are all stressed. When one person is frustrated, we are all frustrated. When one person wants to go play a game of tag in the quad at 10 p.m. on a Friday night, we all go play tag. I mean, seriously, if you need a social study break, I 100% recommend tag to revitalize yourself. Twister works as well!

Kennedy Tartt

I know what you are thinking: "This dork is just making excuses for not having any fun." That is far from true. Our fun just looks a little different compared to the average college student's.

This college family is the biggest blessing I have received since moving into college. My group has made my transition to college so much easier than if I had been forced to go through the first couple weeks alone. They have quickly become my go-to people, if not somewhat of a support group. They are the first ones I celebrate with, complain to, and ask for advice from. Our friendships are meaningful and stand great chances of lasting.

So what if we get a little over-excited for basic things, like when the dining hall brings back the nacho bar, or when they have a game night in the lounge? We enjoy college. We know we are paying too much not to. Though many choose to enjoy it at the club in four-inch heels, I think I'll stick to binge-watching cheesy rom-coms with my studying, movie-watching, tag-playing, Snapchat-spamming, nacho-loving friends.