Dear lifelong friend,

The first few weeks at college are scary. They are confusing and filled with adjustments. You are away from your home, essentially by yourself, for the first time in your life. For someone traveling from hours away to a college they really know nothing about, this is terrifying.

Thankfully, with the right mindset, making friends your first week of college is easy. Everyone is just as lost as you are. In that time, everyone is trying to find a group that they fit in with and people who are just like them. I know we may not have met each other right away, but I know for a fact in our friendship, I have found some one EXACTLY like me.

Some of my best memories of freshman year were spent with you. Whether it was sharing meals at dinner, binge-watching our favorite cheesy TV show, or harassing the boys in our hall, we were always up to something together. There was no one else I could have more fun doing nothing with, and no one I loved to make fun of more for going to sleep at 10 p.m. every single night (even weekends). We were so attached at the hip that people even started to confuse us with each other. I had really found my twin.

To me, the most important part of our friendship is how it has grown while we have been apart. Now, entering our senior year of college at different schools, I feel closer than we were when our first semester of school came to a close. You never resented me for leaving and always made an effort to keep up with my life at home, just as I did the same for you. We made plans to visit each other and you showed me around your hometown (it's your turn to visit, by the way). For that, I cannot thank you enough. You showed me that someone you have known for just a short amount of time can wind up being such a huge part of your life. You are my best friend.

I know that we might not talk every day, or see each other often. We no longer attend the same school, after all. But I want you to know that my first semester of college would not have been the same without you. In that short time, I made a forever friend. A friend who I know will never judge me and is always a phone call away, no matter the circumstances. A friend who can make me laugh harder than anybody and is just as nuts as I am. A friend who I hope will be right next to me in my wedding one day. You are my soul sister, and you cannot find that just anywhere.

Love,

Your long-distance bestie