College is a time where you’re constantly ‘on the go’. From classes and endless hours of studying to the multiple jobs we need to pay off inevitable student debt, the list never ends. And when we do spend time with friends, the trials and tribulations of student life dominate the conversation. Soon, complaints about which professor is hardest and which test we’re about to fail become the basis of relationships which won’t always last in the challenging and unpredictable years to come.

In this chaos, it’s often difficult to enjoy organic relationships with friends who can put aside student life for a little while and talk about the world outside. And it’s even more difficult to actually put aside time in your day for them when you have that heavy agenda hanging over your head.

But luckily, in the last 2 years, the friends who’ll stick with me and with each other in the long run have begun to shine through.

Just this year, I started eating breakfast with a small group of my friends after class every other day. Unlike the beginning of most relationships, there was no uncertainty about the group dynamics when we first met - all four of us immediately clicked while standing in line for food and within the hour, I felt more at home than I had in a long time.

Since then, even with assignments galore, we set aside 10 precious minutes to grab coffee, sit at a small booth in the commons, and catch up with each other. The thing is, even in those few minutes, we cover an unbelievably wide range of topics. In the coffee line, we might talk about Disney movies and the symbolic meaning of characters in our favorite TV shows. While grabbing our food, we’ll start talking about some trends in the national news. As we sit down at a booth, we might discuss Black Lives Matter and the judicial system, the debate building up with each passing minute. And as I finish the last dregs of my coffee and begin to pack up my belongings, we’ll be passionately discussing feminist issues of women in the workplace and the struggles of being sexually objectified.

My point is is that with every meal we share together, there is no limit to what we can discuss. We don’t restrict ourselves to the common topics that students talk about within the confines of our small university. This is a place and time where we don’t allow our identities as human beings to be drowned by our identities as students, important as that side of us may be.

Sometimes, when my workload is really overbearing, I’ll try to pull out some homework or reading to finish during our time together but I never can actually get things done because I am naturally drawn into the conversation. I used to consider myself a pretty shy person but my friends bring out the side of me that wants to engage, laugh, challenge, and discuss. It’s these little moments where we put responsibilities aside and engage with our friends that remind us that our world is a little bigger than these 4 short, precious years.