I met Galen during move-in week of our freshman year at Texas A&M. That week, we hung out alone for the first time and she convinced me to go to Hurricane Harry's wearing an XL t-shirt and tennis shoes (she was wearing a George Bush shirt) and we looked absolutely horrible. Since then, we've been best friends for six years and lived together for five of them. Together, we've graduated from having crushes on yell leaders and burning everything we cooked to actually kind of having our lives together. Through the years, I can't even count the number of times that one of us has sat crying on the other's floor or talking about nothing on a hand-me-down couch. Galen is the life of every party and the most loyal friend a girl could ever have, and she also happened to introduce me to Thomas, so you could say I owe her one.

When I first met Erin, I mentally called her "Erinzona" to remember her name, because way back in freshman year, you couldn't meet Erin without finding out that she grew up in Arizona. Our friendship really blossomed during sophomore year, when she, Galen, and I went to Washington D.C. during spring break and I realized how amazing my girl is at spending quality time (Our group message is stilled called 'DC Comics' to this day in honor of the inception of this iconic trio). Ever since then, Erin and I have been asked if we're "twins, or just sisters?" everywhere we go. During our junior year, we actually molded into the same person when we were living together, making all of our meals together, taking two of the same classes, and working three of the same shifts together at the career center on campus. No matter what happens in life, all I need is one evening of sitting down, watching some garbage TV, and splitting a pizza with Erin to feel like things are normal.

I met Abbi on April 14th, 2002, on the day she was born. Abbi holds the record of living with me for longer than anyone else in the bridal party. She had the honor of not having control over the remote in our living room until I moved away to go to college, so her drinks are on me today. Abbi's talents include eating all of the candy in her Christmas stocking in one sitting until she makes herself sick and passing out on Reveille's grave at her very first ticket pull. If you have trouble finding her up at the front, she'll be one of the two people in a pink dress who looks "just like me".

I met Madison Irving at a pool party during the first week of sophomore year. That day, we realized that we were in the same organic chemistry class, which we were both struggling pretty hard in. I learned three things about Madison that first year: she had an incredible capacity to function without sleep, she was obsessed with Loki, and she was the funniest (and craziest) person I had ever met. She and I were officers together in our student organization for almost three years, and we had a LOT of fun abusing our power and making people dress up for meetings. One of my favorite memories with her is from when we had our Poor Month, which is when the two of us had to split a kids' meal at Cracker Barrel because I had a gift card and we had no other money for food.

Hannah was my very first college friend. When I drove to College Station for fish camp, a girl walked me from my car to Reed Arena and told me her name was Hannah (not this Hannah). Once we got to camp, another girl showed us to our dorms and told us she would be staying with us for the week. Her name was also Hannah (also not this Hannah). Upon hearing this, I turned to the girl next to me to introduce myself, and she said "Hi! I'm Hannah!". We quickly became best friends and had a horrible time listening for our names in the line for Starbucks at the library on campus. Hannah is one of those people who you meet that you don't have too much in common with from the outside looking in, but who just sees the world in a lot of the same ways. No matter how much time we spend apart, we always go right back to 'us' when we get together.

I like Hunter. He’s a good guy and more than my other friends, I feel like I’ve seen him grow up over the years. Most of that is probably due to his wife. If not for her he’d still be eating cheese pizza for every meal. I got close to Hunter after I graduated and moved away and realized I missed having my friends in an unlocked room 5 feet away. So Hannah, good for me as she is said "hey why don't you call your friends?" So I did. Hunter is a consistently kind and thoughtful friend, and is one of the most selfless people I know.

Kevin is one of the most interesting people I know. Being from Honduras, there was a bit of a language barrier when I first met him. As upperclassmen we were roommates in the Corps at A&M and we bonded over basically acting like sorority girls. That said, Kevin is one of the hardest people I’ve ever met. He’s been robbed 10 times and at least one of those times, he said “no I’m robbing you give me your wallet.” Kevin's favorite movies are Saving Private Ryan and Happy Feet 2.

Shane and I share a love of skiing, and it was during our sophomore year that we took a trip to Sipapu, NM to go skiing on the cheap that we became close, but this was only realized the following year when we'd have lunch together almost every day and thought "wait, are we like, best friends?" Shane's sense of humor is truly one of a kind, but perhaps the most entertaining thing about Shane is his lexicon. Not sure how to describe this one, but spend some time with him, you'll tump over in laughter after he tells you some idiom he thinks is common knowledge but is really limited to just him.

When I met James I thought he was so cool. Good thing I know him better now. Don’t be fooled by his career or charisma, this guy is a total dork. Who else do you know that will watch YouTube clips from The West Wing just so he can see young Rob Lowe? James is basically my dad though - likes scuba diving and photography, is a pilot in the Air Force, and will nerd out over pretty random hobbies. Did I mention he's been to Italy?

James has been my brother my whole life, but I haven’t been his brother his whole life. He had the privilege of having an annoying younger brother who always wanted to play. James and I share many experiences which felt like forced labor such as hauling brush, installing ceiling fans and working at our parents’ rental property on Friday nights. Despite this, James is one of the most kind and upbeat people I know. If you need help finding him, look for the person who doesn’t look like me at all. I’m convinced my parents adopted all of us from the Ukraine.