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The 6 Levels Of Friendship

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In college, you will have all kinds of friends. Some will play a bigger part in your life than others, but they all have made a difference in your college experience in some way.

Class Friends
These people are in your major and you have a lot of classes with them. They may or may not be a little strange, but either way, they spend Tuesday nights in the library while you’re going buck wild for buck night–so you’re nice to them for the notes. They’re not necessarily smarter than you are, they just invest more of their time in school than you do. You get along well and you like them, but you would never meet them in the library and start telling them that you got kicked out of the bar last night because you tried to run back inside, past the bouncer, after you were already “asked to leave.” They will be there to save your GPA after you chose to prepare for formal instead of finals. Generally speaking, if you’re nice to them, they don’t really mind that they’re doing more work than you are, because they like having you as a “friend.”

“I Know Who You Are And You Know Who I Am, But We Don’t Talk”
This one is hard because this person is not an actual friend. In a college town, when you’re involved in Greek life, the world becomes a lot smaller. You start to know who people are before you actually know them. It’s one of my favorite things, but it can also be an everyday annoyance. You can’t go anywhere without seeing someone or someone seeing you. There’s always one person who fits this category, and it’s extremely uncomfortable. You see this person literally everywhere: the bars, the gym, walking on campus, walking to your car, in the random car next to you on the freeway. It’s actually really weird how your timing is so similar, and one of you has definitely thought the other might be a stalker at least once. Life would be a lot easier if one of you would just start a conversation sometime. But you don’t really care enough to do anything about it, so you just go on the way you were, trying to avoid eye contact.

People You Avoid At All Costs
Maybe I just avoid too many things. There are just certain people where, if they were standing right in front of me, I would light my hair on fire before having to converse with them. This person is someone you either used to be friends with or used to date, and it didn’t end well. This category could include a lot of people, but for me, he was the most awkward social date ever. We didn’t talk at dinner at all, literally. We drank a whole bottle of Fireball at the pregame, thinking it would solve the problem. It didn’t. However, I still proceeded to DFMO with him at the social before I left him there to go to a different bar. Later that night, I Facebook messaged him “Where are you?” because I wasn’t sketch enough already. The next day, I had to sit through my executive board meeting and listen to our adviser tell the story about how she was harassed by someone’s date who got left at the social and pretend to be shocked. And then I had to agree when she proposed a new rule that if you leave your date at a social, you’ll be called to standards. All the while, I just thanked the heavens that somehow, no one in that room realized it was my date they were talking about. I will literally change my route, no matter how obvious it is, just to avoid this person.

Second-Tier Friends
It sounds kind of mean when you say it, but these are the friends you hang out with when your best friends aren’t there. It’s definitely the biggest category in terms of numbers. Basically, it’s every other girl in your sorority and any other friends you’ve made along the way who you would never ask to take a pregnancy test with you. You get along really well and you genuinely enjoy hanging out with them when you do. You just don’t include them in everything, and that’s okay because you’re not their best friend, either. They can be a refreshing break if your best friends are being dramatic or not getting along, but they also serve as a reminder that your friends are so much more fun.

Friends Who Become Family
This is it. This is the group text. These are your girls. They know what your real number is, and they don’t judge you for it. They were there for that awkward social date, and they still bring it up to this day. They’re the ones who can make fun of you without hurting your feelings. You know their drunken alter egos just as well as you know them sober, and they know yours. They’ll call you out when you’re wrong. They’ll go with you to Taco Bell at 7 a.m. when you’re hungover. They’re who you want to celebrate your achievements with. They know your parents, and your parents know them. All of your good stories start and end with them. You take care of each other, and you listen to each other, and you love them. You get annoyed with them, and you get mad at them, and you get over it. While you were busy getting ready together and, going out, making mistakes, drinking, studying, waking up at 7 a.m. just to laugh about the night before, and going to chapter events and ceremonies that were only fun because you were all there together, they became more than just friends. They became a part of who you are. They’re the ones who will plan your bachelorette party, make an embarrassing speech at your wedding reception, and plan your gender reveal party. They’re the ones who you’ll plan yearly trips with as adults. Most importantly, they’re the reason why you’ll cry at graduation, because you can’t imagine going one day without being able to see them and talk to them about your day and hear about theirs. The only thing that can make you feel better when you think about leaving them is realizing that you are so lucky to just have had them there.

The Guy Version Of Your Friends
This is what I would call the former category’s doppelgängers, but in fraternity form. There are just as many of them as there are of you. When you’re drinking, they’re drinking, always at the same places. You’ve basically gone through their whole group in terms of potential prospects, and you became Eskimo sisters with at least one person in the process. You’ve crashed their alumni weekend, you’ve been in their basement, and you’ve lost any filter you ever had around them. When you’re all together, it’s just fun. You don’t even have to try, because it’s always a good time. It’s just funny when you find a group of people that’s compatible with yours. If you haven’t found them yet, keep an eye out, because they’re a part of what makes college great.

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