For me personally, the saddest part about transitioning to college was coping with the fact that I would not see my best friends for a long time. Some of my friends I may not ever see again. I had settled into the comfort of having two of my favourite people by my side all seven days of the week; they had every class with me for ten plus years! Even older friends who graduated a year before me, I kept close contact.

But, moving to college placed this unspoken barrier on old friends. I didn't have "old friends" at Oklahoma State University which was beyond daunting because how could I ever replace them? Here's a little mythbuster for you: you don't. You add to your list of friends- not cross them off and write new names.

When I really stepped back this week to reflect, the revelation occurred. I don't have brand new friends who are completely unknown to me. I have my old friends just inside new bodies. It really hit me as my close friend, Asa, sat in my room eating mac-n-cheese. We talked about a bunch of different things but ultimately, we hit on a discussion about the Mormon faith. It transported me straight back to my hometown with my lifelong friend, Elaina. I remembered always questioning her about her faith so that I could have a clear and respectful understanding.

While the conversation with Asa did not perfectly match those with Elaina, the two paralleled greatly. Then, I thought about reconnecting with my friends over Christmas break. There was story after story about our "new" friends but the funniest part was, we always connected it back to our trio.

We would name a person and describe them, but then we would tag the new friend with something like "honestly, they're like 30% you and 70% me." Our friendship still burned before us, but even at college away from each other, we weren't meeting total strangers.

It's definitely scary - I get it! However, this pressure to create totally new friendships is so unnecessary. We stay friends with the familiar, it merely takes a new physical body.