College is weird in so many ways. The biggest for me is being away from my best friends who I have spent most of my life getting to know and growing up with. Coming into college, you start at a totally blank slate – no one knows who you are, what you like to do, or anything about you.

You have to tell and keep telling your story to every new person you meet, and you meet new people ALL THE TIME. This process gets pretty exhausting, especially when you can’t just go to your friend’s house and tell them all about it because you are hours apart.

Although, being hours apart does not mean that your friendship is over. Maintaining all of your friendships from home is putting a lot of strain on yourself, but you can definitely make time for the ones who really matter to you. Texting, calling, FaceTiming, or tagging each other in memes, are all ways that are so easy to stay in contact with your best friends even if it’s just to remind them that you love them, or that you saw something that reminded you of them.

Personally, when I get a notification that one of my friends tagged me in a meme I get ridiculously excited. It’s mostly because it’s another way of knowing they are thinking about you, even when you are hours apart. They also usually make me laugh, so that’s good too.

The key is just to talk to them as much as possible. Don’t be upset if they can’t answer right away, or if they don’t call back the same day.

One of the hardest parts is accepting that they have this whole other life in a new place that you will never know every little thing about, like back home, because you are not there experiencing it with them. This is something that you just have to accept and believe that they will get back to you as soon as possible. All you have to do is talk to them, whenever you get the chance. Plan out times to FaceTime or to call, whatever it takes.

Also, send them a letter every now and then. Writing letters may be old fashioned, but I promise you it is much more fun to receive a sweet letter from a friend than anything else. Also, if you somehow have some extra money (we’re all broke college students so totally understandable if you don’t), send them a little gift for their birthday, or just because you’re thinking about them.

Leaving my friends and family at home, or having to see them go off to different schools without me was the hardest part about coming to college, but I try not to think too much about that. I try to focus on when I will get to see them next, and what we’re going to do when we are finally back together, or all the things I have to tell them about, or all that they will have to tell me about.

Just getting back to school from Thanksgiving break, so I did just get to see my best friends, but I can’t wait until I get to see them again. Those are the times you have to cherish an extra amount because you don’t get to just hang out and relax with them and talk about stupid stuff that only you guys find funny anymore. There are definitely more obstacles to overcome being away from each other but if you really care about each other you will work through it.

Kacie, Trinity, Macey, Jenna, and Lexy, this one is for y’all. Can’t wait to see y’all again.