A couple of days ago, a stranger noticed I was having a bad day and said to me, “Do you have friends?” I was a little confused by the question, but I responded, “Yes, of course.” He turned to me and said, “Well, let me tell you. As long as you have one great friend, then you have no reason to be sad.” I took a sip of my coffee and smiled wearily at the strange man.  At first, I thought he was a little crazy – who asks a girl that’s having a bad day if she has friends? But on second thought, I took out my phone and texted a few friends to make plans for the evening because I thought seeing friends would be the pick-me-up that I needed. The stranger was right – if you have friends, then you have no reason to be upset, sad or angry. As the years have passed and I embark on my last semester as an Ionian, I realized how fortunate I have been – the opportunities afforded to me, the work I’ve done, and the people I’ve met have made this experience worthwhile. Recently, anxiety and uncertainty about my future after college prompted me to evaluate my time here.  Did I make the most of it? Did I leave any legacy behind me other than being a stickler on the newspaper?  After much consideration, I will fully admit that it is not what I have done that has made Iona worthwhile, but rather the people I have met (and sometimes the way that I met them) will make me miss Iona the most. In my freshman year, I became friends with this girl Diana Chisis simply because I saw her sitting alone, knew she was an international student and decided that I should join her for a coffee.   In my sophomore year, I became inseparable with James Hurley (a fact that h e will forever cherish).  In my junior year, I became friends with Sheena Wagaman after a long night of divulging my secrets to her.  In my senior year, I became friends with Lindsay DeCarlo, Tim Cahill and Fiona Gray thanks to our mutual love for the Beechmont (What 21-year-old doesn’t love the Beechmont?) Friends come and go. It’s up to you to decide who is worth keeping in your life and who you need to let go of.  Sometimes, if you are lucky enough, you will meet people that you cannot imagine living without. Those are the people that you maintain good connections with and work on keeping them in your life. I consider myself lucky to have met and become friends with the majority of the people in my life – they’ve been there for me at my worst, they’ve been there for me at my best, and they are always quick to remind me of who I am when I get a little lost. So maybe that stranger was right. All you need to be happy in life is one friend. If that’s the case, then I should consider myself lucky every day that I have a bunch of really close and good friends.   To contact The Ionian’s Heather Nannery, e-mail her at [email protected]