It’s obvious, once you move away from home and you and your friend group drift apart and meet new people, things change. Growing up in a really small town and going to a small tight-knit school, it was kind of difficult accepting that. My graduating class was about one hundred and fifty people and everyone who walked across the stage, I knew who they were. For most of our educational journey, we all practically grew up together. There were so many instances of “remember in middle school” or elementary school, everyone knew everyone. While some people may think that’s scary or really admirable, when it came to leaving home, it was hard.
I had a tight friend group since middle school. It was the kind of friend group where we did everything together, school trips, game days, sleepovers all the time. Over the years, it would change a little bit here and there and there would be a few confrontations. But I would be lying if I didn’t say I didn’t lowkey miss it sometimes. The first few months of college we would facetime and one of my friends moved to a college not too far away from me so we got to hang out a few times.
It wasn’t until winter break that I realized how much we had already changed and grown apart. All of those TikToks showing a Hallmark-like movie where the main character moved away from her hometown and is visiting are SO relatable. (If you have no idea what I’m talking you need to go check them up asap)
High school friends have you seen you through your awkward phases, your first few talking stages, maybe even some relationships. But there’s honestly something different about the friends you meet in college. Not every single person you meet is automatically going to be your best friend, but some of the people you do meet will. Being in college together, you care more about just doing stuff together and getting through college rather than trivial high school things like what person you’re dating or who your parents are. You can get away from the little stupid dramas and focus on just living your best life.
I’ve noticed that a lot of people who never leave their hometowns, just kind of stay the same as they were in high school. This doesn’t mean just cut off everyone from your past. You definitely don’t need to go to the extremes plus that just avoids awkwardness if you were to run into them in the grocery store during a break. It just means that we are all growing up and sometimes that means to grow apart, close that chapter of your life, and embrace what changes come.