Freshman year is the definition of a tease.

Your class load isn't that hard, you can go to sleep at 4 a.m. and somehow make it to your 8 a.m. (most days), and going out is a sort of daily routine. You're super close with your friends and you're always having a good time freshman year, and then all of a sudden you are constantly saying you will hang out soon or making plans that you never keep.

It seems as if they are always doing something fun while you're working or you're working while they are doing something fun. Now, not only are you having trouble keeping up with friends that go to different universities or live back home, but also finding time to see friends who live in the same city as you. Sound familiar?

Keeping up with your friends is not something that is easy.

If you want to have friends and have a busy schedule, you have to balance your schedule in a way that allows it. It may be your self-proclaimed free time or you might ask them to tag along to study. Either way, you are spending time with them! We can even go a step further and actually plan to hang out and catch up. Crazy right?

When you create your weekly schedule and don't leave any time open to see friends, guess what? You won't have any time to see friends. If you plan your schedule and make an effort to carve out some time in your schedule for a friend, you'll have that time.

You don't just have plans with people because you want them, you have them because you make them.

Make plans, make time!

Sometimes you have to just reach out and let your friend know you miss them. If you basically fell off the earth into your own little world for the past few months and they haven't heard back from you, why do you just expect them to be reaching out constantly? If you miss your friends, tell them!

Set up a weekly FaceTime, like me and my BFF from home do, or just give them a call and actually catch up instead of just saying you want to.

And what about the friends that you miss but they never seem to reach out to you? Fuck em. Don't keep trying to make plans with someone who never texts, calls, or uses any form of communication to keep up with you. Use that time and energy for a friend who cares about how you're doing as well!

Some friends fall off, and that's OK.

People grow and change, a lot of times for the better. Growing apart from someone isn't necessarily a bad thing all of the time.

Moral of the story here: pick up the phone and tell your friends you miss them if you do.