Friends are the family we choose. Invariably, they hold a significant place in our lives. This special relationship begins when two people share their happiness and sorrows with each other, and end up accompanying each other through life’s milestones.
We have grown up with our school friends, but there’s something special about the one’s you meet in college.The friends you make in college are completely different from other friend you have made in your entire life. Unlike your high school friends, you actually chose these bonds based on common interests, not simply because you grew up with them. Friendship becomes a vital part of life during college because not only are we finding out who we ultimately are, but we’re also discovering who’s going to be with us on the rest of our life’s journey. That guy you meet on the first day of orientation or that girl you meet in the canteen on you college fest may end up becoming that friend who you’d call ten years after graduation when your kids tell you stories about their friends.
Making lifelong friends in college allows you to share any of life’s milestones with your friends: getting your first internship or landing your first job. Not only do they see you grow from a first-year college student to a seasoned college graduate, they also live all your life-defining moments with you.
College friends are the ones who have seen you at your absolute worst and cheered you at your best, be it any society audition or a placement interview. There are no boundaries in your friendship; no obligations, no restrictions, just unalderated, at times brutal and much needed honesty. It’s become completely normal for you and your friend to share your bed and each other’s wardrobe. From hating the same professors to having a crush on the girl with red hair, this friendship will be a friendship for a lifetime. They are the only people with whom you can enjoy even when you are not doing anything special; even laying on the bed, uttering the randomest of thoughts to each other and pondering on them seems like bliss.
As the years in college progress, there will be a time when you will experience the feeling of ‘home’ with your friends. Feeding each other while preparing for semester exams, holding each other’s hands while crossing the road, or simply understanding each other’s past and problems – these friends will make sure you never feel alone. From pushing through the bad days and laughing through the good ones, to surviving the burden of growing up, you become each other’s survival kits in college and will have interesting and epic stories to tell your kids, thanks to college friendships.
They’ll stand like a shadow, a shield, and will try to protect, and teach you how to learn from every pit you fall in. From planning trips to Ladakh, Goa, Kasol, and Manali, to critically dissecting the new TV series, college walls have seen some of the purest bonds emerging.
In all seriousness, we all extremely blessed to have friends which help us through the most critical and difficult phase of our lives, where we’re still getting to paint our dreams with the colours of reality. The picture isn’t always pretty, but at least there is good company to laugh at the misery.
Let your gang know, “Tere jaisa yaar kahaan,kaahan aisa yaarana“, and cherish the beautiful bond you guys share!
Anoushka Sharma
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