When you're having separation anxiety from your hometown BFFs, the group message is your saving grace. Here are ten things that you probably encounter on a day-to-day basis.

1. Discussing boy troubles.

So you met this guy at the bar on Friday night, and things between you had been going great. You had been texting every day since, until Wednesday night when he suddenly fell off the face of the earth. Was it something you said? Did you say too much too soon?

As you lament over the guy from the bar, who better than your gals from home to dissect the situation with you? They’ve been there through all your previous relationships, so it’s easy for them to jump right in and give you spot-on advice when you need it. They don’t mind spending the time to sort through the ten frantic screenshots in a row that you’ve sent, either. They are always there to assure you that if things don’t go as planned, you’re out of his league anyway and he doesn’t deserve you.

2. You let them know when you’ve all had a bit too much to drink.

“gguys. i just love you guys so mucfh. you are the fbest friends i cobuld ever have. you make me so happy and i wish you wree here right now! becky is really nice. we are gettinkg juice. wish fyou were here. miss yoyu guys. vodka.”

You’ll probably send one of these, too.

3. You gossip about people from high school.

As soon as you see something on social media that you think might spark an interest with your hometown pals, you have no shame about screenshotting it and sending it ASAP. You and your friends won’t stop talking for hours about how that couple from high school is still together, that girl from your grade’s awesome new hair, or how that shy guy that used to go unnoticed got hot in college.

4. Reminiscing is a daily occurrence.

No matter how random it may be, you never hesitate to mention any arbitrary memory that comes to mind from your childhood. After all, it would be nearly impossible for a day to go by without reminding everyone in your chat of how you all looked in your pre-pubescent middle school days— braces, peace signs, Uggs, and all.

5. TMI

Have to go to the bathroom in the middle of class but you're trapped there for another thirty minutes and you don't know what to do? It's probably best that you update your girls from home so that they can experience this hardship along with you. You know that your lifelong friends will always be sympathetic about these kinds of things. No matter how weird or gross your bodily malfunctions are, you have faith that they won't judge you.

6. You always go to them when you're feeling stressed about school work.

Although you attend different universities, you share in the experience of being overwhelmed with schoolwork. Your group chat from home is a safe place to vent about that professor that's giving you a hard time, your two exams in a row, or that essay you haven't started that's due tomorrow. You can always count on your friends to reassure you that it's not the end of the world and remind you that they're in the same boat.

"Guys. I just got out of class to 132 new messages! What did I miss?"

So much. So little time to explain. Just scroll up.

8. Someone is always busy.

"Sorry to be annoying, but I need my battery for later. Can you guys make another chat or something? I'm at work."

9. You can always count on them to help you sort out disagreements.

Your hometown friends have become the go-to voice of reason for any issues that you encounter with people at school. Getting frustrated with your roommates in the midst of coordinating your living situation for next year? Need to talk about how frustrating it is to live in a forced triple? You're always welcome to vent, and you know that your BFFs are always there to listen and offer you sound advice.

10. You discuss missing each other at least once a day.

Being away from each other never gets any easier. You're still getting used to not seeing their shining faces in the hallway every morning or being a five-minute drive from their house when you want someone to get ice cream with. You're constantly counting down the days until the next break when you can finally be reunited and do all of your favorite things together again.

Being away from each other in school is hard, but it's worth it when the squad is finally reunited and it feels like you never left. You find comfort in coming home to be surrounded by the girls you grew up with. They've stuck with you since the beginning, so naturally they seem to understand you better than you understand yourself. The fusion of your separate traits makes you one, complete person. And you wouldn't have it any other way.