Spring Break

When I was in elementary school, I had many Best Friends. Notice the capital letters because in my childhood, it was almost a title, bestowed upon my closest friend that year. But the following year, he or she and I would drift apart, someone else would claim the title, and the cycle would begin all over again. It was always ephemeral . . . . . I would claim that person was my Best Friend Forever, but then forever was only a few months. As a child very inclined towards the popularity swings of peer politics, I didn’t know what a true friend was. I only believed in the concept at face value . . and this continued until high school when I began to make friends whom I really trusted.

But here in college, I’m finding friendship on totally new levels. Just this spring break, two of my pledge sisters came with me to my house in Houston. We had a great week- we went shopping, we went to the beach, we went to the Space Center . . . . .we genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. We bought shoes together, we shopped at little kid stores (because we’re all small girls who can!), and we spent hours just basking in the sun together. We went to Galveston, to downtown Houston (where we got hopelessly lost), and to all kinds of diverse restaurants. We were around each other 24-7 and instead of merely interacting, we bonded. And then when I got in a wreck on Saturday, they both were there for me, and without them I wouldn’t have come out of the situation as well as I did. Now its a big joke, just another part of our crazy adventure.

Roshmi at NASA

This is what I would look like on Jupiter!

Roshmi excited about a pixel game at NASA

Iris and me checking out light

sensors at NASA

Rocket Park, NASA

Here at Tulane, you find such a diversity of personality types . . . . people that are drawn together by one common goal but have nothing else in common. My friends are very different from each other and from me, but for some reason, our odd combination of characteristics and traits just works. It’s like a puzzle to which you don’t have all the pieces. Suddenly, there’s a girl from California and one from Virginia and they just fit right in, making a whole picture of friendship and sisterhood.

I’m really glad to have come to Tulane and have met people like them. Elementary school friends, however, are also part of that puzzle. They’re the pieces that you find and try to fit into that one spot where you have a hole. Even if they don’t last long, you’re still glad you tried them.
Me at Galveston!

But friends like the ones I’m making at Tulane . . .they’re not just the right pieces to fit with me and my personality. I hesitate to use “Best Friend” to describe them . . . . .but I will say that they are new additions to my life, and something tells me they’ll stick around for awhile.
In the puzzle that’s my complete collegiate experience at Tulane, I definitely found the missing pieces.

Three Amigos- Me, Iris, Roshmi