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By Jillian Sarver
When reflecting upon my 18 years, I cannot help but be filled with an immense sense of gratitude for the friendships that I have made along the way. I feel hesitant to call it fate, but there seems to be no other feasible answer. Each and every one of the humans I have the privilege of calling my friend are genuinely the most incredible and selfless people I have ever met. They have supported me, shown up when I needed them, and simply just been there to comfort and listen a countless number of times. With full confidence I say that I would not be the person I am today without them.
In 2013, my mom remarried to my stepfather while he was working in the Elizabethtown School District. Because of this, my sister and I had to move schools, a feat that devastated my eight-year-old self. Little did I know that, that year, I would meet three of the people I still call my best friends today. Gavin, Jase, and Braden have been in my life for the past ten years now and I absolutely would not change a thing about it. Throughout my time at E-town schools, our group started to grow as we all became closer with more people. Chloe and Landon showed up in eighth grade, adding to our already amazing dynamic. It wasn’t until freshman year of high school that I met my all-time best friend, Molly. I always laugh when I think about when Molly and I first met because we didn’t get off on the right foot, which was completely my fault (I had a bad first impression and ran with it). As Molly and I started getting closer during Quarantine, we connected immediately, becoming very close. Molly is the kindest, funniest, and most beautiful person that I have ever had the privilege of knowing, her presence automatically lightening up every room she enters. I have never felt more cared for or seen with anyone in this world than I do by her, her selflessness showing in all that she does for me and others. Two more people joined our group in high school, Colton and Alex, completing a friend group that I have had multiple amazing memories with. These people have seen me at my best and my worst and still love me regardless and I could not be more grateful. Even as I finish up my freshman year of college, that in which I went into thinking I would never be able to make genuine friends, I am humbled by the idea that my friends here in Louisville chose me to be their friend. They have been there for me countless of times as well and I could not have made it through freshman year without them. I was sure that I would never meet other people that could get and understand me, but they somehow do.
Each moment I spend around my friends, at home or in school, I am reminded of how beautiful friendship is, how beautiful it is to know someone inside and out and still not run in fear. There is no part of me that deserves the blessings that have been bestowed upon me in the friendships that I have made over the last ten years of my life. I feel so lucky to have met such wonderful people in a world so large, people that are without a doubt some of my platonic soulmates. To Molly, Gavin, and Jase, thank you for all that you are; I am inspired and in awe by how intelligent, strong, and incredible you all are every single day. I hope to be friends till I no longer have the breath to make one last joke together. I love you all immensely.
Jillian, of Elizabethtown, Ky., is a member of the McConnell Scholar Class of 2027 at the University of Louisville. She plans to study criminal justice with minors in political science and creative writing.