About a week ago, I went on a spontaneous trip to the beach with two friends from high school who attend different colleges. Throughout the conversation, I realized just how appreciative I was for having friends that kept in touch even after college took us in separate ways.

If there's one thing I've learned in college, it's that everyone that you go to class with, you live with, and experience college with, becomes a tight-knit family. We all started in the same boat-- confused freshmen who just wanted to find people to hang with. I've only just begun my sophomore year and I feel like I have many people to fall back on and call family. I can confidently say that I am so thankful for them and that I can't wait to make even more memories with them in the future.

However, this article is not about them- it's about the friends from back before this crazy journey we call college. It's about the friends from back home- the ones we spent 18 years of our life growing up with, the ones we learned to count and recite the ABC's with, the ones we went through the dark middle school phase with, the ones we went to prom with, and the ones we walked down the high school graduation aisle with.

If there's one thing I have learned about them during college, it's that some will fade away and some will stay. The ones that stay-- they're rare. These people may be best friends, significant others, or even acquaintances from high school that became good friends during the summer.

Communication is definitely key, but from what I've noticed, it's not about the amount of times you communicate, but rather, it's your quality of communication that really keeps the bond between two people tight. Like the typical phrase goes-- quality over quantity. I mean, we all can relate- college gets busy and you meet new people and sometimes it's just hard to keep up with your old buds. But after experiencing one year of college and finding out who has stayed keeping in touch with me, I've come to discover that a simple "hey, how are you?" or "hey, how have things been?" is key to keeping a friendship alive.

Throughout my conversation with my two friends, I found it extremely fascinating how they became instantaneous outlets for me. It was such a good and fun experience to be able to share my experiences after just three weeks of school and also be able to listen to theirs. It's great to keep up that relationship with people even when you have family here at college. These friends who latch onto you really are keepers, and are great people to talk to when college just gets stressful. These friends who stay aren't just friends to me, they're family too.