One of the best parts about college is all the joy you get from being on campus. There's that newfound sense of independence you get if you move straight from your family home into your own apartment.
You get the freedom to choose things like what you're going to eat and when you're going to study. But the best part could arguably be the people you meet. Professors and mentors could potentially change how you're shaped as a person and what you end up doing, but so will your friends.
Most of what happens on college campuses is about engaging students with each other. You're meant to make friends that stick with you through graduation and beyond.
They become your support system when you're struggling with school stress or sickness, and the happiness they bring you could be what gets you out of bed in the morning to face that difficult class one more time.
But what happens when you go on break? Most students end up going home to visit with family or work at their old jobs while they aren't in class. This time might mean that you're going to have to leave your friends for a bit or that they'll leave you.
Don't panic about not being able to see them every day! Check out some of these great apps that will make it easy to stay in touch with your best friends.
You may even continue to use them after you're back to meet up at the cafeteria for dinner.
WhatsApp: Free
WhatsApp is a popular app used by people all over Europe because it connects people across the globe without charging to span the distance.
It's great to use if you have international friends who fly home for longer breaks, plus you can keep multiple chats going and even video connect on mobile devices. Download it, and it'll sync with your contacts who also have WhatsApp for a seamless transition.
TheIceBreak: Free
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A big struggle for people can be wanting to stay in touch with someone but not knowing what to say. Especially for people who don't make friends easily, keeping up with people is difficult because they don't know what they'd want to talk about or what they might want to say.
TheIceBreak changes all of that. It has conversation starters to get you and your friends started on a conversation, plus photo sharing features and even a stats section so that you can remember what you talked about.
Gaze: Free
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Everyone's binging shows and movies online, so you're probably used to doing it with your friends while you eat pizza and relax.
With Gaze, you don't have to press pause on your binging streak and keep yourself from watching that show you love. Gaze makes it easy to sync up video files and watch stuff together, even while video chatting. Long-distance movie nights will become your new favorite way to hang out.
Path: Free with In-App Purchases
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A downside about social media is that it can limit what you want to say or share with your friends, like how Twitter limits your characters.
Path takes those limits and makes them a thing of the past, connecting you more personally with the people you love. It's essentially a smart journal that's meant to help your personal moments more easily become public. Some features you might have to pay for, but you'll never have to deal with annoying ads.
Heartbeat: Free with Spotify Account
It's easy to bond with your friends over music, and that doesn't have to stop once you're not in the same room anymore. Heartbeat syncs with your Spotify account and creates a virtual room for you and your friends.
You can play playlists that everyone can hear, stay updated when they like new songs or even send your new music to people. Catch up on the latest album releases or even a podcast or two.
Draw Something: Free
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Sometimes, the problem with friends going home for breaks is that you want to be able to do something with your friends other than text each other. Draw Something might turn out to be your new favorite thing to do.
It lets people play one-on-one, competing to see who can guess what the other person drew. Each correct guess gains you coins you can use to buy colors. Keep your streak going to see how long you can keep drawing things together.
GroupMe: Free
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Get using this app over your next break. It'll help save you and your future study groups big time. GroupMe is an app that helps you create and handle multiple group chats, which is perfect when you need to coordinate with study or work groups.
All the messages are stored so that anyone added later can go back and catch up on what's been discussed. It's basically the discussion forum you never knew you needed.
Whether you want to be able to hold long-term conversations as a group, binge watch movies together or even compete at games, an app will let you do exactly that. Get ahead of the curve and try some out before your next break so that you don't have to be without them.
