Welcome to the chapter of your life where the people and challenges you meet actually start to matter. You are getting older and figuring out who you are as a person and the people in your life will start to mean more to you. You see those people visiting you at your house in the future and attending your wedding and all sorts of other important events. This is what I want to say to those who have already established a friendship with me within the first months of college.

To my friends taking on college with me,you guys have shown me what a friendship is supposed to be and how people are supposed to treat you. There are no conditions to this bond we have formed. If I need to study you guys are there with me. If I need a shoulder to cry on someone is always there. If I need food at one in the morning then someone is offering to make me food.

There is no manual for attending college. You just get told to go and get your education while going into enough debt that it will take you ten years to pay it all off. When you make connections with people, whether it's just your roommate or an entire sorority, it makes college a little easier. I know as soon as I got a bid from my sorority I had instant friends and it feels so amazing to always have someone to talk to. I had someone from my major that helped me look at my second semester classes, I had someone who could help me determine my research project, and I always have people who support my decision to study over going to a party.

There are also going to be those days where you just want a little adventure in your life. You have to have those friends that you can say "Hey, let's go to the lake," and they are totally down for it. Whether it's a random hike or a trip to get some off-campus food. You need adventure in your life and the friends to take those adventures with.

We need friends and while it is okay to still keep in touch with those you were friends with in high school, college is where you start to find those that will matter most to you. It's easier to make friends when you are all trying to figure out who you are and what you are doing with your life together.