College is a time of discovery. Everyone, especially during freshman year of college, is extremely friendly and it's much easier to make friends than you would expect. Whether you go to a small college like me or a huge one like the University of Texas, you can make friends extremely easily if you're just friendly. The one thing you can't tell when you make a new friend is whether or not if they're real or fake.

Having real friends is paramount for me, as I simply cannot surround myself with negativity. This negativity is different than the banter you might have with your friends-it's malice, the type of things your friends might say about you behind your back. Knowing that my friends have my back and are looking out for me is something that I value. The value that I place on these friends is more than alcohol, more than the number of girls I get, more than doing something stupid that might end up on social media later. These friends are the ones that won't try to exploit you, that don't take what you do to them for granted, and most importantly lift you up when you feel down, not abandon you or blame you for the problems that they cause.

Many people like to have friends that they know are fake just to be around them. I don't blame them. Having a pretty or cool friend is awesome, but I delve further than that. If you're the person who puts in almost all the effort in the relationship while your "friend" is either not listening to your problems or helping lift you up when you feel down or in any way not reciprocating the love you give them, that's a clear indication to cut them off-no matter how beautiful or cool they may be. If they force you to do something you don't want to do-that's a clear indication to cut them off. If they are not appreciative of what you do for them when they are drunk or what a hassle they are to you-that's a clear indication to cut them off.

I'm not the type of person or friend that will be 100% nice to you because I love the banter and the flaming that happens between good friends. That doesn't necessarily make me a bad person or friend. When it really matters, I'll take a bullet for my real friends. OK, maybe not a bullet. But I'll go through a lot for my friends, even ones that I don't know that well because I have morals and I have a conscience. But once you start playing my friendship and how much I care about you off because you take it for granted or you justify it through maybe the one time I jokingly said you were stupid because you mixed orange juice with milk, you don't deserve my friendship. If I text you lyrics to "Too Good" when you're drunk and you say reply with "probably", I'm too good for you to even be my friend.

Stick with people who lift you up and cherish every facet of you, because these same friends will be the ones that will help you out like you help them instead of walking away when you need them the most.