Before college, most of your friendships are more than likely with people that go to your school. If not, they're people that live close to your community. When you're so used to having your posse within a few miles, it's a difficult adjustment to go your separate ways once college starts. It's also equally difficult to gain friendships at college with people who identify "home" as a place hours away. With all of your close friends miles and miles away from you during the summer, it can get a bit lonely.
I have a lot of experience handling long-distance friendships. The two friends I'm still in constant contact with from high school are three or more hours away from my small little town in central Illinois; one is in Chicago and one is in Kentucky. My cousin lived in Hong Kong for a semester. My best friend from college lives all the way down in Texas, and my boyfriend and I are two-and-a-half hours away from each other. Yes, summers do get lonely, but they're only lonely if you choose for them to be that way. Just because the people you love and care about aren't within hangout distance doesn't mean you have to lose complete contact with them while they are away.
It doesn't take that much effort to keep in contact with someone. We don't live in the days of letter-writing and landlines anymore. Everything is a lot more instant. From simply texting to "Skype dates," maintaining long-distance friendships just got a whole lot easier. Thanks, technology.
Seriously though, technology is the best when it comes to friendships. Honestly, thanks to video chatting, you can almost hangout with people that are across the country. My friend from Texas and I will share each other's screens on Skype and watch videos or do online puzzles together. We also make a point to Snapchat every day so we don't lose our snap-streak, maintaining the number-one best friend spot on each other's list.
For the people that it's a little bit harder to stay in contact with because of conflicting schedules or time changes, I set an alarm on my phone to remind me, "Hey, you haven't talked to this person in a while. Go do that." Even if they're busy, at least they'll come back to their phone knowing that I'm thinking of them. That, my friends, is why technology is so beautiful. It's instant, but doesn't have to be invasive.
If you have a friend that you haven't talked to in awhile, send them a quick text or Facebook message. I promise you they will appreciate it, and you'll be glad that you caught up.
