There’s this belief when you leave high school that you need to restart your life, the classic “new year, new me” mentality.

Graduating from high school and entering college feels like a big change and a big transition, and it certainly is. But starting a new chapter does not mean you need to forget about the old. When you read a book, do you go from one chapter to the next and pretend that the previous did not happen? Do you forget the characters and the stories that led up to that point? But most importantly, do the characters change with every chapter?

No, some characters disappear, but some stick around. Some have multi-chapter roles in the story. Some, the greatest ones, stick around until the last page.

So why, when we graduate high school, do we have this idea that staying close to old friends is bad? I have met many people in my college career so far who proudly say, “No, I don’t talk to anyone from high school," to whom I respond, “I still talk to my best friends.”

Now I understand that some of these people never had anyone that they genuinely wanted to stay friends with anyways, and if that is the case, go for it. Don’t hold onto anyone or anything that doesn’t make sense for your life. But please don’t let go of anyone or anything that does make sense for your life, especially if the reasoning is that you have to say "good-bye" to high school completely.

My high school experience was great, and I met some of the best people I have ever known... beautiful, genuine people, the kind of friends that you feel connected to by your souls. I talk to them often; I never want to lose them. I want them there at my college graduation. I want them there when I start my career. I want them at my wedding. I want them by my side for every special occasion I have.

Not because I cannot let go of high school but because I cannot let go of them. And why would I? Why would I throw away friendships that good? Why would I want to leave people who would never leave me? Had I met them in college, I would feel just the same; I’d want them in my life forever. Meeting them in high school only means that I got an extra couple of years of their friendship.

So let’s eradicate this stigma. Enough judging people who keep friends from high school, and enough turning your back on people that could potentially make you happy for years to come. Keeping old best friends close is not an act of someone who can’t let go of high school; it is an act of someone who appreciates and loves the unbelievable people who have already entered their story. And who knows? Maybe those same friends will help you slay the dragon in your last chapter.