A lot of people say that high school friendships are temporary. They say that your best friend in high school will probably no longer be your best friend in college, especially if you two go to different schools. They say that you will grow distant and your friendship will eventually fade.
For some of us, that might be true, but college did not negatively affect my friendship with my best friend. In fact, I think that it helped strengthen the friendship we had and it definitely taught me to value and appreciate it.
I have known my best friend since freshman year in high school, although we weren’t friends right off the bat, when we did become friends, there was an instant connection.
Like most friendships, we became closer than ever our senior year. We were basically inseparable, but we knew that we’d be splitting up soon. Knowing this, we tried not to think about it in a negative manner because we knew that there were positives to come out of it–we would both be going to schools of our liking, and we would be studying something that we both loved.
Deep down, I was scared that I would lose my best friend. I was afraid that she’d find someone better, or that we would simply just lose contact. I hardly ever voiced these emotions because I felt like I had to be optimistic not only for myself, but for her as well. Therefore, when we would talk about college, I’d remind her and myself that we would always be in contact, and whenever we were on breaks, we would definitely be seeing each other. We promised each other to always be friends.
And since then, we’ve kept that promise.
Over winter break, we reunited and it was as if we were never apart from each other. I saw her and felt like I didn’t have much to fill her in on because we would constantly talk, so she knew everything already. When we spent the day together, it felt just like old times. However, when it was time to say goodbye because I had to fly back to South Carolina the next day, I felt heartbroken. I had to reassure myself of our promise.
To this day, we constantly text and tell each other everything. We have not let our friendship diminish. We don’t plan on doing so either. There’s a saying that, “distance makes the heart grow fonder” and believe me, it does. I’ve learned to value our friendship and not take it for granted.
College has not ruined my friendship, in fact, in a way it has saved it.
And, this can happen to you and your friendships too! All you need is some TLC and a promise that even despite your busy schedules, you’ll make time for each other.
Text each other with random updates throughout the week, call each other when walking to class, Snap Chat each other silly things and make plans to hang out when you’re home.
Even if friendships might be physically miles away, they can still be close to the heart.
I thought college was going to ruin my relationships, but in fact they made them stronger.
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