Forever Friends

One of my favorite things about where I went to college is the way the friendships have lasted. I think it comes from the fact that we all lived in the dorms together for the entire four years we attended Harvey Mudd. The communities that built up in those dorms have proven to be long-lasting. I got a glimpse of this when I was still volunteering as a tour guide at Mudd. Dorm pride was always on full display in any parents who attended Mudd. But beyond that, the connections I made in those dorms are lifelong.

This is most apparent with the people I see rarely. We have a core group of friends that we make an effort to see a few times a year. Fourth of July was a tradition until the weddings took over. I'm looking forward to that coming back after everyone has finished getting married. We also keep Halloweiner alive for people on the East Coast. And we've begun to attend the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ fest every year. (Note that these events largely take place in DC. This is all part of our master plan to convince everyone to move out here.)

There are other friends, too. Friends that I don't get to see every year, because life gets busy and we live too far away. But on the rare occasions we get together, it's always impressive how much we still have in common. How easy it is to slide back into the good old days when we saw each other constantly.

We got to see one such friend on Saturday, because she was in town for a conference. We all gathered in Dupont and went to three (or four?) different bars over the course of the evening, which may be a record for me. We played Cards Against Humanity (always a winner), ate delicious empanadas, and drank a whole bunch of beer. The evening was a ton of fun, and it makes me wish that we all lived a lot closer to each other.