Junior year of college is a weird one for everyone. It's getting to that point where you basically can only take major or minor requirements, and graduation isn't as far away as you thought. Besides that, junior year is the time where everyone goes abroad, so the semester that you're on campus, the amount of people in your class year seem smaller than usual. Among the people who go abroad when you're still on campus are your friends; not everyone can go abroad the same semester after all. Here is a progression of your semester when your best friends go abroad a different semester than you.
You're Okay
When you first get back to school after the summer you feel so overwhelmed by the amount of people you haven't seen in three months. You barely notice the people who actually aren't there because there are so many familiar faces to get reacquainted with. With all of the socializing and mingling, you feel confident that you can get through the semester. After all, look at all of the people who are talking to you!
You Feel Lost
As you begin to establish your weekly routine, the people who greeted you at the beginning of the semester start to fade into the background and your real friends come forward. You begin to find time in your schedule to hang out with the people who matter, but you realize that something is missing. Your best friends who you made time for last year aren't all here. Lunch dates with your crew feel half full because the other half of the group are across the world. You begin to notice the missing holes where they once took up space, like at the pregame or dinner dates to your favorite restaurant in town. Then you're not quite sure about the rest of the semester.
Jealousy
Your friends begin to upload pictures of themselves with new friends who they met abroad. They're in new locations, traveling to other countries, going out to clubs, and most of all, bonding. You start to feel sad, but mostly jealous because while you're stuck at school, your best friends are busy replacing you in foreign countries. The more you look through each picture to carefully investigate your competition, the more jealous you are when you realize some of these people actually go to your school.
Time Differences
As the semester starts to pick up, your friends who are abroad begin to adjust to their new locations for the semester. They begin to reach out more and more via FaceTime and WhatsApp because they miss you and are curious about the latest drama at school. While texting is easy, you guys want a chance to see each other face to face to catch up, but it's super difficult to find a good time for a Skype date when your best friend is 18 hours ahead. You finally find an hour that makes sense for both of you, but Internet connection isn't great, so you spend a majority of your FaceTime date trying to make out what the other person is saying in between freezed frames.
You Get Used to it
You start to get used to things as they are. You have a routine that you stick to and a life at school to focus on. So what, your best friends will come back eventually, but in the mean time there's going to be an awesome party this weekend that you can go to with your best friends who are here. You and your best friends who are at school start to bond and spend time together, and you realize that the rest of the semester is going to work out just fine.
The End of the Semester
The end of the semester comes much faster than you expected. Your abroad friends are getting ready to come back home, so they begin texting you more regularly to ensure your friendship is still intact. Your schedule picks up between school work, end of the semester concerts, formals, and getting ready to go abroad yourself. You realize your friends are coming home soon, so you want to get ready for that, but there are a million other things to do before you can celebrate with them.
Reunited
Finally your best friends have come back to the country! You are so excited to hear about their amazing adventures abroad and spend time catching up and partying to make up for all of the lost time. It's so great to be reunited with your best friends, until you both realize that in five weeks you'll be the one leaving the country this time.
