Here I am, back at school after an amazing summer full of laughter, relaxation, and time spent with great friends. Although spending time with college friends is fun, summer was also a great time for me to see all of my friends from high school. Because many of my high school friends go to colleges out of state, I am definitely missing them now that I am back at school. Over the summer, I seemed to have taken for granted that they were actually back home. But now, as I am sitting here typing this, I miss them more than ever. Everyone always says that people come and go, and people do change, but losing the friendships I made in high school, or even middle school, is not something that I want to do. Even though some of my friends are now eight hours away, when they were once only ten minutes away, I still find time to keep in touch so that our friendship stays strong. Here are a few helpful tips on how to keep in touch with high school friends in college!
1. FaceTime or Call them
Although this fairly obvious, it can be difficult to find time to to do more than just send a quick text here and there. However, not much can be said in a text, so calling or FaceTiming is a great form of communication! My friends and I usually do a group video call. If you plan in advance, then it’s something that will be apart of your schedule, so you won’t be as likely to overlook it. You could do it every month, every other month, or whatever works for you! Technology makes it so easy to communicate with people who are hours away, so take advantage of that.
2. Write a letter or postcard
Using technology and social media as a form of communication is very convenient, but sometimes a letter is more meaningful (and it’s always exciting when you get something in the mail). When you take the time to sit down and write something to your friends, it shows them that you care and that you were thinking of them!
3. Get together over breaks!
On holiday breaks, many people spend time with their families, but finding time to get a group of your friends together is always fun! It’s a time to catch up and share what’s been going on in your “college life”. Sometimes there are even random breaks during the semester when my friends come back home, and because I’m in-state it’s easy for me to just meet up with them and have coffee or go to dinner!
4. Visit them at school
Of course there will be times where vacation times don’t match up. In that case, you could take a road trip (or flight) to your friend’s campus! This might not always be practical, but it gives you an excuse to travel on vacation and experience a different college campus! You could even try to surprise them, which would obviously take a little more planning on your end, but totally worth it.
5. Know that they’ll always be there for you
Even if you can’t seem to find time to do all of these things, no matter what you should know that your high school friends will always be there for you! They’ve been with you through ups and downs in high school (something that you cannot necessarily say about your college friends, unless you’ve shared a few embarrassing stories from your high school experience). Whether or not you talk to them every day or once a month, if you have a true friend, then they will be there when you need them the most – and that’s the best part of all.