The best, of the best, of the best, SIR! With honors.

The night before Move-In Day has got to be up there in the perfect definitions of bittersweet. I had some of my friends over for pizza that evening; we laughed, we chatted, and we wondered about what lay ahead in our respective futures. Then, as people began to depart, the tears started to flow. As if I hadn’t already cried enough. I thought that I physically couldn’t create any more tears, but when the time came for my best friends Alicia and Cat to say goodbye, it was like the floodgates had opened up. I was consumed by every conceivable emotion all at once. Our final hug was seemingly eternal, all sobbing, then laughing, then more sobbing. These were the girls I could count on for anything. We announced on the morning TV show at school, had sleepovers weekend after weekend, and frequented On the Border for their endless warm, salty chips, all solidifying our status as a trio. We’re separated by states and boundaries, but these two girls are still what I consider my best and closest friends.

jelene / FLICKR

Everyone has a best friend. I don’t want to sound clichéd by talking about the “bond of friendship being the glue that holds everything together,” but you have to admit that it’s kinda true. A few concepts concerning friendship that may enter your mind as you are entering college are how and when just a friend becomes a best friend, and when a best friend becomes the “One.”  You may have questions like this throughout your collegiate experience, but they’ve been stuck in my newbie head all week. These questions, along with: “How do I know if the three girls I’ve been hanging out with in my first week of school are going to end up being my Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda?”  and “How do I know that my best friend from high school, Brian, is going to stay my best friend while he’s at GW and I’m here at AU?” have certainly kept my brain buzzing.

Brian actually met Sadie, Kate, and Serena (the possible Sam, Charlotte, and Miranda candidates) recently, and I’ve gotta say, witnessing my own little worlds collide was strange. To see Brian, whom I’ve known since I was 10, chatting with my new friends, whom I’ve known for 10 days, was just a taste of many astonishing convergences to come. I’m hoping that this encounter is proof enough that I can be both the hometown girl I’ve been for the past nine years and the city girl I hope to be for the rest of my life. Mixing of the old and new is a major component of college, and navigating the fusions, especially in terms of friendship, can be tricky. For example, I know that joking around with Alicia and Cat back home, I can use the most offensive language without hesitation. But here, is it fitting to joke about somewhat taboo topics with girls I barely know? Does that level of comfort determine our closeness? Or does some other qualifier, like time, indicate our friendship status?

I’m spending some of Saturday with Brian, and I know that the passing of time and separation will have little impact on our day. To maintain this lifelong friendship, I know that it will absolutely take both time and effort. Similarly, with my hypothetical “Sex and the City” girls, patience and minor self restraint (at first) will go a long way. Not all of us can be as blunt as Samantha Jones and be as well liked right away.

Of course, with any new friendship, you’ve gotta be honest, no matter what, but you should at least wait a few days to mention any sort of inappropriate anecdote, or, say, an embarrassing family graduation present that has been passed down to you in the form of an electronic stuffed animal Chihuahua.

ED BIERMAN / FLICKR

Bottom line: don’t worry if you haven’t found the Harry to your Sally, or the Rachel to your Monica. It’s still early in the semester. Throw yourself into activities to meet new people, stop people you think look cool on the Quad, or just become friendlier with your roommate. Make yourself a compromise that in the midst of your studies and schedule, you will indeed find the Buzz Lightyear to your Woody.