We all have a group of friends that we would rather take a bullet than lose even one of them. You go shopping, gossip, laugh, cry and probably like their parents more than your own. (Just kidding, Mom). What happens to those friends after you go to separate colleges? Will there be late night conference calls every Friday night? Maybe even take a spontaneous road trip to see them and just drive around singing? Maybe these friends will last a lifetime, or maybe the friendship is only for a season. Either way, saying goodbye to your bestie can never be easy.

I, myself, have a group of great friends. All of us share similar interests whether it be in music, activities or Netflix series. One thing that I don't share with them is my college choice. A couple of my friends haven't graduated and one of them has chosen to go to a college a lot closer to home than I did, but somehow I know without a doubt in my mind that we'll stay connected. The question is how will we guarantee a spot in each other's lives? It's not like I could attach all of us with Chinese handcuffs or anything.. Or at least they probably wouldn't love that. Seriously, when you grow so close to someone I imagine that there is nothing in the world that's much harder than being apart from them for too long. I couldn't imagine going two weeks without seeing my three best friends and I could only hope they'd say the same thing about me.

So the questions arises: How do we stay best friends even with the distance and crazy schedules? What do you expect to get from the friendships when we are so far apart? Do you want phone calls that are hours long at a time? Is that attainable? Scheduled FaceTime calls late at night? What could you do?

One thing that is a must is that you have to text each other at least every other day. Loss of contact, even if it's just a week or two, could be deadly to a long distance friendship. Try to always have a break in your studying to just chat or even send a snap after you hit the gym (because we all know you're gonna work out in college).

Any type of communication is key to keeping your relationship alive and thriving. Another must-do is visiting. Calling and texting are great things to have when you just want to have a quick chat, but nothing beats the real deal! Traveling to see your friends (maybe even getting in some time with your family) at least once or twice a semester is another great way to maintain your relationship with your bestie. Whether you arrange a beach trip for you guys to go on over the break or just take a trip home and hang out, your friends will really enjoy it because they definitely will have missed you.

The kind of friend you are while you're away will surely prove how dedicated to the friendship you were when you were together. More than likely, if you have someone you can call a best friend, there's a reason for it. You have done something to make this person want to put up with you for however long you are friends. That's something that I find to be very valuable and I know that I couldn't live without my best friends. Remember why you remained friends for so long and try not to lose sight of that. Besties should definitely always be for the resties.