Freshman year is a difficult adjustment as you head off to your new temporary home for the next four years. Who you have by our side during this time can make or break your experience while you’re away. As for me, I write this article just a few months before it would mark a year that we had to all say goodbye to each other. Deciding to transfer was made harder knowing that I had to leave my best friends behind. However, nothing will ever replace the times we shared, and for that I thank you all.

To my freshman year best friends,

Lucky is an understatement when it comes to describing how I feel about fate bringing us together. Seven different girls from different areas, all brought to the same school, destined to find each other. We all brought something different to the table and that’s what made our friendship so diverse and unique. The day we were brought together I would have never imagined that you would all have such an impact on my life.

For all those times you held me while I cried when homesickness came over and we either cried together or comforted one another. We were never as alone as we thought because we had each other. We were each other’s family away from home, the support systems we needed when we were miles and miles away.

I will never forget those long conversations where we would lay in bed and talk into the night about anything and everything. We were only 18 then and curious as to where our lives would take us next. We wondered whether we were on the right path but within each other’s company it felt like we were exactly where we were supposed to be.

We weren’t always serious which helped me keep my sanity. The amount of laughter we shared through our year together was immeasurable. We all have our own different quirks and sense of humors that always kept things interesting. My smile is never as genuine as it was in pictures with all of you. You all brought out the very best in me even at times that I was at my worst.

All our nights out together I look back on fondly; we always made the best of our times out together. These nights are memories that I will never forget and cherish. Even on the nights we didn’t go out we always thought of crazy ideas to preoccupy our time like binge watching scary movies while cuddled up on the ground. Even screaming the lyrics to throw backs and dancing around the room was entertaining for us. As long as we were all together, that was enough for us.

Every evening was “family dinner” and it was frowned upon to not be in attendance. We were the obnoxious group of girls who claimed a table and then had to steal seats from other tables just to accommodate us. Even our conversations at dinner were untamed and had no boundaries, if we had something to say, we had no shame even if we were in public. The amount of stares we received each night just increased throughout the year.

You’ve each individually impacted me in your own ways, and helped me grow from that scared 18 year old into a now 20 year old who feels as if she has a hold on her life. Thank you for being the backbone I needed when I was discouraged, my family away from home, my support system and best friends who helped make my freshman year one to look back on.

I love you all forever,

Tor