In college it is likely you will form bonds with two types of people. On one side, you will have your friends that only contact you for a good time. They are likely to only want to participate in activities that involve going out, and if something doesn't involve drinking, they are likely to be uninterested. These are your "party friends." On the other side, you will have your friends who you regularly grab food with, call when you run into an inevitable life problem, or text just to plan a movie night. Let's call these your "real friends." At a time when we are all soul-searching and struggling to find out who we are, telling the difference between these two people, and prioritizing one over the other, can be difficult. However, it is important to decipher between people who value you, and people who only value a good time.

Your "party friends" will most likely only contact you after dark. They will ask you what you are doing tonight, or what the plan is. They will really take no interest in how your day was, or anything relevant that is happening in your life. You always have a good time with these people and usually wind up doing about a million different things that you probably shouldn't have. At times, you may feel as if you are being used, but you will ignore this because it's 1 a.m. and you are having an awesome time. However, come 2 a.m. and you are painfully upset because your ex-boyfriend was mean to you at the bar, they are nowhere to be found (probably because they ditched you for the cute boy they met by the bathroom). The greatest struggle you will have with your "party friends" is that they will see no faults in their actions, as they only care about themselves.

Your "real friends" will probably make daily contact with you, just to see how your day is going, or maybe even to tell you about something funny they saw on TV. They value your opinion, and will come to you for advice, just as you would seek advice from them. You share a very honest and trusting relationship, with both sides of the friendship sharing a mutual respect for each other. They are always planning your next surprise birthday dinner, or planning group trips for everyone. They showed up with a cookie-cake when your boyfriend unexpectedly broke up with you, and flowers when your childhood pet died. Although at times you may bicker (as friends do), they have never gone too far from your side. Day or night, rain or shine, they are ALWAYS there for you.

At the end of the day, your real friends are the ones who will have your back, and those are the people who you should never let down. They will support you, love you, and cherish you the same way you do them. You will never feel as if you are in a one-sided friendship with these people because you are both willing to go out of your way for the other, and appreciate it the entire way through. These are the college friends that will stand next to you at you wedding, and that your future children will be calling "Auntie" and "Uncle." You can have just as much, if not more, fun with you real friends than you ever could have imagined with your party friends. Life is too short to waste time on "friends" who do not appreciate all you have to offer. Throughout the trying times of college, when you are out there in the world just trying to find yourself, make sure the right people are by your side to guide you.