Bachelorette Nights

This reflection is about an unlikely bonding experience between me and my coworkers who were my closest friends.

The other day I found myself watching the Bachelorette with a good group of friends. I had just returned to my home in Austin from College Station for summer break and I was excited to see some old friends. As we continued to watch the show, I realized this was one of those shows that I had thought was comical and trivial. While it is still comical, I noticed a lot more in the people around me I was watching with. I saw the difference in the people who were in that room and had one of those, “how are we even all friends” moments. I was overwhelmed with the amount of belonging I felt with a group of people and while we were attaching a show I could have promised I would have never watched, and I could not help but be thankful for the people there.

This moment wasn’t a huge life changing moment but it was one of the special little ones. I saw the value of friendship more than ever because of the nature of the event. I came home after being away at school for nine months, back to a group who loved me and wanted to spend time with me. I could look at those people and know that there are things in their lives that make them uniquely them and I knew what those were. I knew that these friends if I could come back after that long and be as close as we were a year before, that they are going to be around in my life for a while. My ability to be thankful for the people that come into my life grew so much in this moment.

This moment made me see those people who stay with you after you physically leave a certain place. It made me realize that there will always be those acquaintances you end up not seeing again when you do leave, and then there are the people you come back to and who end up in your wedding. In college I have been seeing that I have a lot of acquaintances. I say hi in the hallway all the time, we grab an occasional coffee or meal together, and are generally cordial towards each other. The dilemma with that is I am doing those little things with so many people and expanding the people I know on a semi deep level but I am not continuing those relationships past that. I noticed the difference when I come home to an instance like weekly bachelorette nights and know that those moments were from friendships that I did and continue to go deep in. Having this new perspective going back to college in a couple of months I would love to take steps in deepening the relationships I have already. I love to meet new people so this will probably be a challenge. However, I want these strong relationships that I can see lasting beyond my time at Texas A&M. One way I thought to do this is to make a list of people I can see being my potential bridesmaids in the physical place I am. So this summer that list consists of people here in Austin that I can connect with. When I am back at school it consists of people who are in College Station. The list doesn’t aim to be exclusive it simply gives me a parameter of the people during a certain period of time I want to get closer to and to know more deeply.

#CommLabSummerReflections