An Ode to my College Friends

By Ona Carranza

When I came to college, I expected to be done with “high school” drama, have some wild nights, try new things, and find a few good friends. But, what I did not anticipate was how good those friends would be. A few weeks into my first semester, I knew I made friends for a lifetime. The people I met made it feel like we had known each other for years. While my home friends helped shape my values and defined my childhood, these new people were different. I choose to spend more than 24 hours at a time with some of them, and we do not get sick of each other. Together, we stress about prelims, run to Nasty’s late at night, explore Ithaca, tan on quads, and pull all-nighters. I spend so much time with some of them that we have an ongoing joke about “separation anxiety”. With Andrea, one of my closest friends, we took turns sleeping in each other’s twin beds in our dorm rooms for two weeks straight.  

My major is extremely small. However, within the 30-person fashion program, I have met vibrant and brilliant personalities. Despite how competitive the industry is, the girls in my program have provided support and encouragement with applications and projects. It is refreshing to have a strong support system, when it could have just as easily been toxic. 

Second semester at Cornell, through my sorority, I met Amanda. We clicked immediately. It was strange because I had never gelled so quickly with someone. Our humor is exactly the same, and we cannot not stop cracking up whenever we are around each other. Over the few months before we were sent home last spring, we became a dynamic duo. You can find us getting into trouble together, running around campus, and making way too many Tik Toks. Finally, we decided to room together when we got back to campus this year. 

This past fall semester I moved in with her and 35 other girls. I quickly became close to them. With Covid, things were tough. No classes in-person means many hours in our house with the same 35 people - it was a make or break situation. But, I can confidently say I have found yet another group of amazing people. Together, we plotted surprise birthday celebrations at the house, watched sunsets on the slope, went on late night drives blasting music, napped at the gorges, and participated in our Sunday debriefs. I remember on my birthday, October 6, a few girls took me to Louies’. I got cheese fries and a flurry and then we drove to Sunset Park, a cute spot right by our house, where we looked out over Ithaca. It was a beautiful view at night, with all the houses lit up and Cayuga Lake in the distance. Soon it was 12:00am and they sang Happy Birthday - it was such a wholesome moment. When we got home, my room was covered in pink, my favorite color, with balloons, insomnia cookies, and a birthday sign! I was so happy. 

There is one thing for sure that I have found at Cornell University: genuine, down-to-earth people. They are people I can Facetime to share the smallest details of my life, have ongoing pranks with (even when they are states away), countdown the days until we can see each other next, and talk with about an assignment that they have no connection to. Even when I am stressed or upset, I can recall multiple times being sent cookies, or snuggling with people I have only known for a few months. I know that whether it be someone yelling goodnight from across the floor, a friend jumping into bed with me first thing in the morning, a spontaneous ski trip, a 5-hour road trip, or a shower concert, these memories will define my adulthood.  It is all about the small gestures, like a text reminding me to do an assignment or get my COVID test. Within months, these people I met have become ingrained in my life and continue to shape my understanding of what being a friend truly means.