Finding My Lifelong Friends

College is different for everyone. Some like it, some love it, some feel as if it’s just another four years of school, and some utterly despise it.

However, personally, my freshman year of college was an adventurous step for me. I left the people I loved, packed up my belongings, and moved three hours north of where I grew up. I’m not necessarily comfortable with change, but I was ready for a fresh start with new scenery.

Piedmont College is where I found my new home. It’s a small, private college located in Demorest, Ga. and honestly, it was a school I never thought I would see myself.

Why? Well, because their winters are brutally cold and my body cannot handle such low temperatures. I can hardly deal with an air-conditioned office, much less walking to class in numbers visiting the teens. (And yes, I did experience this phenomenon during my freshman year of college.)

All jokes aside, I had never heard of Piedmont before until I knew I wanted to play college soccer. I visited a soccer camp with the idea of just “getting a feel” for the college life my junior year of high school, and absolutely fell in love. I took one step onto the quad when we began the campus tour and knew Piedmont was where I belonged.

Plus, playing the collegiate sport I had dreamed of as a little girl was an upside, too.

However, the most important part to me was that I felt at home. Being a small college, everyone was friendly and everyone knew each other. You made close friends quickly and it soon felt like you had known them forever. It was normal to say “hi” to everyone you passed and to have a study-buddy in every class. You just never felt alone.

Soccer contributed to this, too. I met four of my closest friends that will be my friends for life. I consider them my family, and I know I can count on them for anything—especially taking a trip to get Papa John’s or a burrito from Moe’s at any given time. Cassie, Gabby, Miranda, and Madison are the ones who made 6 a.m. practices bearable through our freshman year. They are the ones who allowed me to vent what was on my mind in a judge-free zone. They are the ones I regularly had sleepovers with when we didn’t have games the next day.

We sat on each other’s dorm room floor on random school nights and talked until we realized it was after midnight. We took each other to the doctor when we were too sick to drive ourselves. We planned our weddings. We laughed until we cried. Wherever we went, everyone knew that if they saw one of us, the rest wouldn’t be very far behind.

When I found them, I discovered things about myself that I didn’t realize before. College reminded me that friends are important. Friends give you advice, help to support you, respect you, and want what’s best for you. Friends are truthful and kind, and friends love you. Surrounding yourself with those kinds of people—positive people—helps to navigate through the rough waters of life and through circumstances that you might not be able to handle on your own. My friends are my backbone.

Now that I will soon be entering my sophomore year of college, I know I have people that are dependable. I know that they will stick with me through the good and the bad, the rough times and the best times. I have people that love me for me—my natural quirks and all. I have the people I thought I’d never find.

And oh, what a blessing they are.

#reading #writing #lessons