"High School is the best four years of your life!" "The friendships you make in high school will last forever!" - I heard this too many times to count going through my four years of high school and after one year of college, I believe college friends are your forever friends.

So, why is college the best time to find your best friend?

College friendships are different than high school friendships because you are not being forced to see this person every day. It is a friendship by choice which allows the friendship to be honest and true. In high school, I remember those certain friendships that I had because I needed someone to talk to throughout the school day. Even though most friendships did not exist outside of the school day, I considered those people my best friends. After going to college, I learned quickly that most of these people were temporary friends and that there were different, more meaningful friendships to be made. High school friendships blossomed from convenience; you did not have to try very hard to be a good best friend because you saw the same people every day. Having a best friend in college is different because you must consistently make an effort to spend time with and be there for your friends. After you have established a strong friendship, you realize it exists on a very deep level because you have a bond that took time and commitment.

In college, everyone hopes to find the person who will go through all the firsts with such as the first day of classes, the first home football game, and the first spring break. This individual will be the one you choose to spend all of your free time with, whether this person is a roommate, a past classmate, a family member, or if you are as lucky as me, someone who has your same major and those people will hopefully be your lifelong friends. College is a time where you are searching for who you are as an individual and having the right people by your side who impact you in positive ways will help make college a successful and rewarding experience. It is important to find friends who share your same values because it makes it easier to find time for each other, to have things to talk about, and to not worry that they will ever undermine you or your values.

You get to choose what friendships you want to pursue. It is your decision to make on who you want to spend time with and because of this responsibility, it allows your friendships to be more involved and closer. Having a close friendship means that you will always have someone there if you have an off day or want to go on a random late-night walk.

In my personal experience - I met my best friend the day before classes started at a meeting with our advisor and every new student in our major. We began talking about our schedules and were looking for classes in common. We unfortunately did not have anything in common, but that did not stop the friendship. We had lunch after our classes were over the next day, and before I knew it I had found my best friend. We both chose to pursue the friendship and we began to go on adventures together, having dinner on our free nights, and binge-watching House on Netflix. We met by accident but I believe our friendship is fate. My advice is to be open to new experiences and people when you get to college - you never know who you could be missing out on.