Coming to college brings about a whirlwind of changes, and navigating those changes can be harder for some people than for others. While some can’t wait to get away from home and start the next chapter of their lives, others find leaving everything behind a bit more bittersweet.
When I was coming to college, I was so excited. I was getting to attend my dream school and couldn’t wait to experience the next four years. But I was also filled with a sense of dread at the fact that my four best friends would not be by my side on this journey. Going to a place where I didn’t know a single person, after spending the past 13 years of my life with my best friends, was a difficult adjustment.
Now, three years later, I have formed many amazing friendships at school, but I’m just as close with my hometown friends as ever. If you’re coming to college and worried that those friendships will slip away, here are a few tips to help you hold on. Just because your daily lives may change doesn’t mean your friendships have to.
My biggest piece of advice is simple: communicate. My friends and I talk all the time, and it takes minimal effort. If I’m ever alone in my apartment or bored when I’m walking to class, I FaceTime them. Whenever one of us has some free time, we call our group chat. Not everyone answers every time, and sometimes people will just pop on for just a second to say hi. But a quick check-in can help you feel connected and involved in each others’ daily lives, even if you aren’t physically together.
My second piece of advice is to make an effort to visit each other! My friends and I love planning trips, and they don’t have to be elaborate or expensive. Sometimes the most fun get-togethers involve simply driving to your friend’s school and crashing on their couch for a weekend. If you don’t live within driving distance, this can be a little harder, but it’s not impossible. Making time to see each other in person is always worth it. Whether you go visit each other’s schools or meet somewhere else entirely, a trip gives you something to look forward to when you’re apart and lets you create new memories when you’re back together!
I know that leaving your old friends can be one of the scariest parts of coming to college, but being in different places doesn’t mean you’ll automatically drift apart. Maintaining these friendships is completely possible if you put in the effort (and there really isn’t much effort necessary). A quick FaceTime call every so often can go a long way.
And remember, at the end of the day, if you truly care about each other, your friends will remain an important part of your life no matter how far away they are.