Teammates, Roommates, Lifelong Friends
We always hear those roommate horror stories that don’t make starting college any easier. Living with someone completely random can be scary, you don’t know who they are, what they like or if you’ll have anything in common. Thankfully, starting freshman year, I knew my roommates and I would have one thing in common and that was our love for horses. 
In my mind, this could either go very well or turn out just like those horror stories, because we were about to become teammates and roommates. Little did I know, the three girls that walked in on move-in day would become like my sisters.
As I look back on our friendship and how it grew over the years, it continues to amaze me, yet I realized there was no secret to it. We were four very different girls, each with unlike personalities and backgrounds, but that didn’t matter. We decided to make it work and make the best of what we were given. This only led us to grow closer together despite our differences. As we grew closer and became better roommates/teammates, we encouraged each other, pushed each other and never let the other settle for less than they deserved.
We built each other up instead of tearing each other down. Now don’t get me wrong, we made fun of each other from time to time, but only WE were allowed to make fun of each other, if anyone else tried then you better watch out. We always had each other’s backs. We did everything together, on and off the team. If one of us was missing, someone always asked where our fourth was. If we had a problem, we confronted it and moved on. We didn’t hold grudges. We always wanted the best for each other and to see the other succeed whether on or off the team.
It was, and still is, an unbreakable bond that I don’t know I’ll ever be able to fully explain. I hope our story will inspire others that it doesn’t matter how different your personalities are, if you give it a chance something great can come from it. I now have three forever friends. No matter where we go or what we do, we’ll always be there for each other. Thank you, Gamecock Equestrian and USC, for bringing this friendship together.
