Today you received an email from the school, the email I’ve been dreading for the last three years. Graduation is around the corner. I’ve seen the whole class of 2016 post their countdowns, but somehow it seems like the time truly flew by. It seems like just yesterday I was moving into college hoping to make friends, and somehow it happened that I made friends with you. I knew becoming friends with sophomores meant that one day the time would come and you would graduate, but how did it happen so soon?

I cannot express the gratitude I have for how great these last three years have been. I guess its true time really does fly when your having fun. I know that the years had their stressful moments, but aside from class we’ve had some really great adventures. Honestly, it is going to be weird without you next year, but I’m so proud of you and cannot wait to see what the future holds for you. You’ve made an unfamiliar town feel just like home and I cannot say thank you enough.

Now do not take this the wrong way, the memories do not stop here (sorry but you still cannot get rid of me). I know that throughout the years we’ve built such a strong lifelong friendship that I will cherish and hold onto forever. From all this time we have been able to spend together I’ve been able to learn so much from you; from the life lessons, to the friendship to how to be a wonderful student and/or how to watch hours of Netflix.

Thanks for teaching me which school events to go to: Without you I never would have known that certain events meant to expect different kinds of foods in the dinning hall, and by different kinds of foods I mean the ones we might actually want to eat. I also never would have known which events meant I would get free stuff. Thanks for teaching me things like “if its for free, its for me,” all the T-shirts, tumblers, magnets, pens and pencils I’ve collected over the last three years definitely have come in handy and that started with your advice.

Thanks for Redbox/Netflix and popcorn nights: From all the nights most people would consider lame, I truly appreciated you showing me that there was so much more to college and having fun than going out. Call me crazy, but Redbox, popcorn, crazy facemasks and Facebook stalking people lead to be some of the greatest memories I’ve had on campus (did I mention the puppy videos). I’ve learned that having people by your side that can genuinely care and make you happy is better than anything else in the world, there’s no other way I would have wanted to spent any of my weekends here.

Thank you for being a wonderful friend: Friendships can come and go, and its not something that I have not seen before. Thanks for being by my side all three years here. Making friends like I said before was one of my biggest fears coming to college and not only did I make amazing ones, but I’ve been able to see the friendship grow. I appreciate you giving me weird looks when I do really (really) strange things, but what I appreciate even more is when you join in two seconds later. There is nothing better than a wonderful friendship and I’m thankful that I’ve found one with you.

Promise me one thing: when you accomplish all the big things you’re set out to do, do not forget about me. Do not forget about all the memories we’ve made at this place; we may have complained about school a good bit of the time, but we had some crazy fun doing it. Nothing will live up to these memories, and I am so happy to have had you by my side. Congrats again buddy, I’m going to miss you a whole lot