Earlier last year, I had my first real job. I was still in college and had applied at the school bookstore for a seasonal position right before Christmas. I got the job, but didn’t start until around Martin Luther King’s birthday.

Earlier last year, I had my first real job. I was still in college and had applied at the school bookstore for a seasonal position right before Christmas. I got the job, but didn’t start until around Martin Luther King’s birthday.

On what I think was my 2nd day of work, I was still getting used to everything, was very nervous and kind of felt lonely and left out since I was a new person and didn’t know anyone. You know how it is when you’re new at a job.

I had just gotten back from my lunch break and I was starting to pack up an online order in the shipping room to go out for delivery, when in walks this girl I’d never seen before. I supposed she was a new hire like me, and she started doing the same tasks at the same table as me.

We looked at each other and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, just started talking like we had known each other all our lives. That kind of thing NEVER happens to me. I am super shy, I rarely talk to anyone unless they speak to me first.

I wish I could fully explain the magnitude of how strange and unique this situation was for me. We were best friends immediately, spent the whole rest of our shifts together and every shift we had together afterwards. It was my senior year, and I had just that semester left before I graduated, and she was the first and only friend I made at college.

We both ended up losing the job because it was seasonal, but when I did lose it, I actually cried a little. I was so sad that we wouldn’t be able to hang out all the time each week during our shifts. I’ve had anxiety all my life and it’s kept me from doing a lot, but I’m glad I pushed myself to get the job because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met her. I’m so beyond thankful that I met her, and we are still best friends.

I asked her recently, “How DID we really meet, do you even remember what was said?” and she laughed and said no, that she just remembered that it was so unexpected and easy, as if we were never strangers.

It was unlike anything that had ever happened to either of us. It really goes to show that we will find the people who are meant to be in our lives. Everything falls into place right when it’s supposed to.

Sometimes the most meaningful connections happen in the most ordinary places. I never would have thought that a part-time job at a college bookstore would lead to finding such an important friendship. It makes me wonder how many other potential connections we miss because we’re too afraid to open up or take chances.

What I’ve learned from this experience is that sometimes the universe has plans that are better than anything we could orchestrate ourselves. I’m grateful every day that I took that job, that we happened to be scheduled for the same shift, and that somehow, against all my usual tendencies, I found the courage to connect with someone who would become so important in my life.