It feels so good to be back at UConn! I am back early to prepare for sorority recruitment, and the only other inhabitants of campus are; other greek organizations, marching band, and RA’s. After spending a long summer at Fenway Park in Boston, it’s refreshing to take a step away from the city life. Sorority pre-recruitment means spending a LOT of time with your sisters and I’ve loved spending so much time with girls that I haven’t seen in months.

You know how people say that you can find out who your true friends are during hard times? I don’t necessarily agree. Sure, there are definitely friends who won’t be able to step up to the plate or don’t know how (or want) to help out. But you might also experience a thing where people from every inch of your life come out of the woodwork. Where have they been this whole time, you’ll wonder. It might seem like a relief to know they’re “back,” but the crisis will eventually blow over and my guess is they’ll go back to their usual ways. Is that a true friend?

Friendship isn’t necessarily a hard time or good time thing, it’s an all-the-time thing. It’s easy to be there through great times and it also can be easy a supportive friend through more challenging times. But the trick is to be there all the times, good, bad, and boring.

Those boring times. Let me tell you… that’s when you really know. I’ve spent most of my free time at my close friend’s apartment, helping her and her roommate settle in, watching TV and just talking. It may not be the most exciting thing we could do, but I’ve found myself in stitches laughing over silly conversations we have.

It’s (of course) easy to think about your friends and say, “Yeah! You should be by my side even if it’s boring!!!” But don’t forget about your role as a friend. Are you likely to only reach out to a friend when you hear about amazing news like when she got into medical school? Or when you hear that one of her parents became sick? What about just some random Tuesday when nothing particular is happening?

I’ve been told by boys that girls have it easier when it comes to friendships. Time/space can come between us, but when we get together we pick things right back up immediately. But just because we have that ability, doesn’t mean that we should put months in between our communication.

My roommate freshman year of college is one of my best friends, and even though I can go months without seeing her, we text and talk frequently. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s hard to keep up conversations and relationships when you don’t frequently see the person, but it won’t happen without you trying.

What I’m trying to say is don’t wait for a big event to step into the role as friend! A little effort goes a long way!