I met my best friend during our sophomore year of high school and we immediately clicked. We hung out every day until we left for college in Fall 2022. I always knew that I wanted to go to an out-of-state school, so when I decided to go to the University of Colorado, Boulder, I knew I was going to leave everything and everyone I knew behind—including my best friend, who, despite my begging, decided to stay at a smaller state school. But despite being over 700 miles away from each other, we’re still as close as ever.
Firstly, communication in any relationship is essential. Without communication, there is no friendship. So one of my biggest pieces of advice is to text your friends! Ask them about their day, how things are going where they live, or anything that shows you care about the friendship. Part of being in a healthy friendship or relationship is letting the person know you’re there for them whenever they may need to talk. Friendship is a two way street that requires effort from both parties.
Bouncing off the communication I mentioned, take time to call the people you love! It takes five minutes to call someone and just say hi and that you’re thinking of them. Trust me, it’ll make their day so much better. Whenever I get a call from my best friend, it makes my day 100 times better, so go call your best friend.
Another tip of mine is kind of silly, but hear me out. Send each other vlogs about your day. For those of you who don’t know, a vlog is a video blog. An example of this would be sending a video of yourself doing a makeup tutorial to your bestie. I literally will be walking to class and send my best friend a video of my journey there, it doesn’t have to be anything serious. She’ll send me vlogs from work, class, or just while cooking dinner. You name it, one of us has made a vlog about it.
One of the things my best friend and I did in high school was watch shows together. We decided to carry on this tradition in college by recommending movies and shows to each other. Recently, my best friend insisted I watch The Vampire Diaries for the first time. So I gave it a try, and oh my god, it is literally the best show I’ve watched in a while. I would highly recommend making your long distance friends watch the same shows you’re watching.
This next tip is one of my favorites: try to visit your best friend or vice versa! Later this month, I’ll be flying from Denver to Dallas to visit my best friend of five years. We’re going to see one of our favorite internet celebrities, Jake Shane live! I’ve literally been counting the days until I see her (and Jake Shane, of course). I know this is not always possible, but I try to see my best friend once a semester.
These are just a few tips I found useful; I hope that these help you survive your long-distance friendships in college!