Back when graduation was right around the corner and college was fast approaching, you and your high school besties made a pact that no matter what, through thick and thin, you would always be there for one another. You made sure to set Skype dates, planned trips to visit each other, and counted down the days till you’d be reunited during Christmas Break. To me, my high school best friends were and still are a huge part of my life. They have helped me grow into the person I am today, and without them, I wouldn’t have been able to survive 4 years of AP classes, homecomings and the constant awkward situations you find yourself in as a teenager. During my first year of college, my high school best friends were my rock. They were the people I would send pictures to when I redecorated my dorm, constantly text about my classes, and cry on the phone with when I was homesick or just had a bad day. It was hard leaving them, but thanks to the power of FaceTime and text messaging, we constantly stayed up to date on each others lives, and at times it felt like we were never apart.
This year, I am finding that as time goes on, it has become harder to keep up with friends back home. Once sophomore year rolls around, you start to solidify strong relationships with your college friends. You have inside jokes about awkward roommate situations, braving college fine dining together, and rely on one another for support during this crazy time of leaving childhood behind and transitioning into adulthood. Slowly, as the years of prom dress shopping and learning to drive are replaced with planning study abroad trips and applying to internships, the urgency to keep up with friends back home doesn’t take the same precedence as it used to. There might be a few friends that you’re able to keep up to date with, but reaching out to all the near and dear people that you relied on so heavily back in high school becomes increasingly difficult. Text messages become less frequent, Skype dates become shorter, and before you know it, you have different summer plans and don’t know the next time you’ll see each other. Then it finally hits you; it hits you that the girls you invited to slumber parties, went on family vacations with, and spent long hours with planning each other’s weddings and futures together, are no longer the number one priority in your life. You feel them slipping away, and it is becoming harder to hold on.
What I have come to realize is even though you might not know exactly what classes your friends from back home are taking this semester, who they currently have a crush on, or what friend drama they are going through, they will still be there for you no matter what. People come in and out of our lives all the time. Some friendships may fizzle out and just become a memory, but a true friend will always remain no matter the distance or time apart. Don’t be alarmed that you’re slipping away from your high school friends. You are not losing them but rather reshaping your relationship from being “high school” friends to “life long” friends. A friendship does not disappear once you put on your cap and gown at graduation. The girls that you spent years building your life with will always have a place in your heart.