Have you ever wondered how you can tell who true friends are apart from the rest of the people in this world?

Just like the old piece of advice says: all you need to know lies in who’s there for you when something bad happens.

We’ve all probably heard that for years. The whole “whoever sticks with you through the worst times” is a true friend.

But do they even exist anymore? In high school I thought I had friends that I would stick with

through anything. No matter that miles were going to separate us for college, I still expected everything to be pretty much the same. I didn’t see it coming, but slowly the texts were less frequent, the calls didn’t last as long and, though I didn’t mean to, I had disconnected them from certain aspects of my life.

We kind of became strangers to each other. We’re still friends, but just not nearly as close as we once were. When I realized this I was a little bit devastated. After relying on these friendships for so many years I didn’t really know what to do when I needed someone.

But, also without realizing it, some of the people I had met here at this school were the people I needed. I was shocked at the willingness of some of them to be there for me no matter what I was dealing with or what I was going through.

A lesson I didn’t expect to learn this year was that deep, meaningful friendships don’t just come from high school.

Sometimes the people that you just recently met can end up being some of the best friends you could have ever asked for, and I’m inspired by the kind of people that I’ve met this year.

So, here’s to the people who give me faith in society. Here’s to the people that see someone they care about going through something and immediately drop everything for them. Here’s to the people who answer their phone at 2 a.m. even though they know they have class in six hours and this is going to be a long talk. Here’s to the people who know what the real meaning of friendship is. Here’s to the people that are there for you when it seems like no one else is.

I think it’s important to point out that these people still exist in the world. Sometimes I have moments when I start to lose faith in society. I think a lot of other people have these moments too.

Those moments where you see the driver speeding down the highway cut off five people. That instant where whoever walks through the door in front of you just shuts it on your face. The millisecond where you think “Are you kidding me? Are all good people in the world completely gone?” They’re not.

And I didn’t fully realize it until this year. As the second semester of my freshman year comes to an end I realize that what I’ve learned goes beyond my classes.

I’ve been given a newfound hope in humanity and the good people in the world. The people who listen to you, give advice, and then don’t repeat anything they’ve heard.

Sometimes you don’t know who they are until that moment when you need them most. But those moments don’t lie. Good people exist in the world. And some of them are right here on this campus.

Deraleau is a freshman majoring in journalism.