Depending on your high school experience, the friends that you make there can end up being some of the most important ones in your life. A lot of times, they were there for your formative years, they watched you grow up and develop into a new person.
I was lucky to have made my friends in kindergarten and stayed in school with them all through high school. We became so close, a tight-knit group of 5, that I would have done anything for. And even after going to Emory and my friends going to different schools across the Northeast, we all stayed incredibly close. We were all so special to each other and comfortable with our friendships that we all knew everything about each other. Aside from the few natural bumps in the road, we’ve all stayed best friends, and there’s nothing wrong with that. We allowed each other to grow on our own but were always there for each other when we needed it.
But of course, this isn’t the same for everyone. Some people can’t wait to get away from their high school friends, and others just have a natural falling through. It’s not uncommon and definitely not unusual to move away from your friends before college. There’s a natural progression that happens when people graduate high school, a need to move on and grow up from their past. And there’s no right or wrong in either situation. Everyone is different and goes through different experiences. It can be especially hard with everyone growing in different places, going through different experiences, and developing in different ways.
Change can be scary, but in either capacity, change is bound to happen. As long as you stay true to yourself, there are no right answers. But it’s important to remember that keeping old friends from high school doesn’t prevent you from making new friends. And making new friends in college definitely doesn’t mean you have to ditch the old ones.