In high school, I joined various instrumental and choral groups that allowed me to join others of every grade in one group to do something we all loved. Because of the things I joined (and probably also because of my older sister), I ended up having friends in every grade. And because we were in the same things together, we ended up spending a decent amount of time together.

I got really close with people both older and younger than me. But when the people I was friends with that were older than me started graduating, I got really sad. I knew I wouldn't be able to see them as often, if ever, really, because they'd all be going their separate ways to college and the military and even just working jobs nearby where I could hardly see them. It sucked for sure.

But you know what? Most of them did still live in the area, so I would at least see them over their winter break and over the summer, if not also during their fall and spring breaks.

See, with college, this isn't so much the case. I chose a school that is 3 1/2 hours away from home. There's a large percentage of people from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York on campus as well as a sprinkling of people from Maine, California, Florida, Texas, and I could go on and name all the 50 states along with other countries, but I think you get the picture.

The day I wrote this article, I attended the graduation ceremony at my school for all the seniors (I am currently a junior). To be honest, I don't know that many of the seniors, but I adore the few that I know well. When they leave Susquehanna, they'll go on to grad school, real jobs, different countries, the military, etc. and most of them won't be returning on the weekends or visiting every chance they get. Heck, I'd consider myself lucky if each of them visited at least once a semester.

When I return to school in the fall as a senior myself, I will have to adjust to not having them around all the time. It's gonna suck, but I know they're gonna do great things and I just want them to know they'll always have my love and support. And I'll just have to remind myself that though they can't be there in person, they're only a phone call away.