Dear freshman year friends,

That first day of move in was definitely a wake up call. Or more like shock and emotional despair for me. When I started my freshman year of college I was beyond freaked out. Not only had I just started one of the biggest parts of my life, but also I barely knew anyone. Luckily, you all were there.

Welcome week was vital to our social lives in college. It was also weird thinking about how different things would be weeks or even months from that point on. Welcome week was full of icebreakers and social events that helped us get out into college life. It really isn’t easy trying to meet new people in an environment you’re not that comfortable in, but I think that’s what made it so easy for us to all become friends. I clearly have a lot of things to be thankful for because of all of you.

Thank you for helping me study when I really didn’t have the motivation to.

Because really, I needed someone to tell me to go that extra mile when I was being particularly lazy that day.

Thank you for ordering pizza with me super late in the library so I wasn’t the only one.

Spending all day in the library isn’t ideal, but when food is involved it makes working on a research paper just a little bit better.

Thank you for being loud with me.

Once we all settled in it was a lot easier for us to come out of our shells. And once we did, we were so obnoxious. Seriously though, we could be some of the loudest people in the room (which probably drove everyone crazy).

Thank you for helping me come up with better ideas for any project I had.

All of your ideas helped me so much when I needed it. A lot of them were 10 times better than mine. Yes it ultimately saved my grade (and saved me the struggle) but I can't say I wasn't jealous of your creative mind.

Thank you for telling me what was gross in the dining hall that day.

To avoid a potential stomachache, this was vital to the type of food we had to eat every day.

Thank you for helping get through the transition of college life.

If I am being completely honest, you helped shape me into a more confident person. The fear of fitting in college happens to most of us, so finding such a supportive group of people really made it so much easier for me.

Going into my next year of college, it has clearly been harder to keep in touch. But I honestly will never forget all of the fun times we had that first year. I really am thankful for all of the memories we made together. It really helped my college experience be something I have truly loved. Without all of you, I don’t think I would be enjoying college life as much.