For my Best Friend

I don't think many people know the story behind Lulu and I's friendship and I think it's one worth sharing, being created under such an uncommon yet inspiring circumstance. 

In the 2014 I made an attempt to study abroad at SKEMA, a university in Cannes, France. Due to my inability to financially prepare for it within the give amount of time, I did not follow through. This semester I stayed in Fullerton and it turned out to be the best of my collegiate career.

My roommate in the apartment I was living in that semester needed to move out so she found a replacement. A French foreign exchange student? No way. No way am I going to share a room with a complete stranger for five months, I thought to myself. Upon meeting her in the living room, she told me she was from Cannes and is studying abroad from SKEMA. What the hell. There's no way. What a small world.

Following this meet in greet she moved her things in. She didn't smell or have unshaven legs and armpits like some people in America think. She wasn't rude like everyone stereotypes French people to be. And she was so driven to pursue her passions while in California that she bought a barely-working coupe to get her to and from volleyball meets.

Over those five months I acquired myself a best friend, a sister, someone who knows me better than most people. She came in just when I needed her the most. It was for some time that I was wondering if someone would walk into my life who saw things as I did, and appreciated life how I do.

What I'm trying to say is that if you don't take risks, put yourself out there, and make an effort to meet and learn about other people, you may miss out on some of the greatest experiences on the planet. I have the best friendship in the world with this girl and it wouldn't have happened if she didn't reach out to a stranger for a place to live, and if I didn't accept a complete stranger as a roommate.

Now two years later, I'm in the airport heading back to Florence from Cannes, close to tears, but looking back on one of the greatest weekends of my life. How I got so lucky is a mystery to me.