September 8, 2008

I just found out that one of my good friend’s dad passed away a couple of days ago. None of us even knew that her father was sick; his passing was expected, but still sudden. I can’t even imagine losing any family member, let alone a parent, right at the beginning of the school year. On top of that, she’s entering her senior year, which is already laden with enough stress as it is.

I’m writing about this not to be depressing or to match the dismal weather in Worcester at the moment. In fact, the entire experience has been somewhat uplifting. After we all found out about her dad, groups of us began to plan trips to her house and the funeral home. I’ve never met some of these students before, but we’re all banding together to support a good friend encumbered by a terrible event. Most importantly, this entire experience has brought me closer to my other friends. None of us even knew that her father was sick, and my friends and I have spent the last couple of nights just talking about experiences in our lives that we hadn’t previously discussed with one another. 

Friendships in college are an entirely different type of relationship than any other forged at any other point in life, I believe. While I’m still very good friends with a majority of my high school friends, the bonds that I share with them aren’t the same as those that I share with my college friends. High school was a time of maturing, so my friends and I did indeed mature with one another. In college, however, friends become so much more. They’re a surrogate family, almost. You live with them; eat with them; play sports or participate in extra-curriculars with them; you take classes with them; you learn both with and from them; you support them; you’re always with them; you experience a taste of real life with them. It’s an event like this that makes me realize just how lucky I am to have such incredible friends, even as cliché as that may sound.

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