Being the 5'10" socially awkward noodle that I am, I have spent the last 19 years of my life adamantly avoiding female friendship. I never understood the concept of a "girl squad," chalking it up to sleepovers, gossiping, and shopping. Whenever I would see that intimidating pack of girls approach in the hallways, I would immediately run. I always just assumed that I was better off in my guy group. I never expected that I too would join the secret society that is female friendship.

Going into college, I had no idea what to expect. I knew I would be living with other girls and didn't have any pre-established friendships at my school. At all the orientation and move-in events, it felt like everyone was pairing off into groups and I was being left in the dust. After that I spent most of my first semester hiding in the library and avoiding any sort of human contact.

But second semester, I decided I would enter uncharted territory. I made close friends with my roommates and made myself a custom #girlsquad. In the past 3 months, I’ve learned several important lessons about the perks of having gal pals.

1. You Can Borrow Their Clothes

This is perhaps one of the most important rituals in a female friendship. When you need to go out in 10 minutes and hate your entire closet, your friends will always swoop in with the perfect outfit for you.

2. You Can Borrow Their Accessories

This is also extremely important. The amount of times my roommates have provided me with the perfect necklace or jacket to complete my outfit is un-countable.

3. They Actually Understand When You Cry Over Boys

Being the only girl in my friend group at home, I always struggled with talking about my boy problems. Your girl friends have either been in the same situation before, or dealt with another girl in your situation. Nothing helps you get over a boy like a good cry with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.

4. Shopping Trips Are Actually A Fun Experience

Shopping by yourself gets old. Being able to shop with other people who actually have an opinion other than “that’s fine” is such a magical feeling! Bonus points if your friends understand your style and pick things out for you without asking.

5. Having Someone Do Your Makeup/Hair

If you say you don’t love having someone play with your hair, you’re lying. Having someone brush and braid your hair is a therapeutic experience unmatched by anything else.

6. All-Girl Group Chats

You’d have to be in them to understand. Girls only group chats are like magical secret societies. Also, the names of these chats are almost always named after a HILARIOUS inside joke.

7. You Have Personal Instagram Photographers/Feed Editors

Whenever there’s good lighting or you look really cute you can always count on your girl friend to take a picture and edit it for you. Whenever my friends take control of my Insta, I always get the most likes, so I highly recommend it if you haven’t tried this yet. Bonus points if they leave super sweet comments on all of your pictures!

8. They’re Always There For You

Whether you need some space for yourself or to go for a Dunkin’ run at 2 AM, you can count on your girls to pull through. Most of this is understood through the unspoken lady-bond.

While all-girl groups are intimidating and definitely dysfunctional at times, they're a very important part of my life now. I don't think I could imagine making it through freshman year without my girls. So if you haven't given it a spin, channel your inner Taylor Swift and start your own #girlsquad.