College.

The amazing, distant place that is infamous for breaking up friends and relationships alike. Upon completion of four grueling years of high school, most 18 year olds are clawing at their front doors toward this new degree of freedom, away from hometowns and parents and people who were present through every awkward moment of middle school. College is exciting, offering opportunity at every corner and the true beginning of the “real world”.

But I know that's not how you see it. Because unlike the endless amount of people around you, who are picking out roommates and shopping for dorm decorations, you're not leaving. You're not done with high school, and you're forced to watch as friends and peers embark on the best four years of their lives while you finish out the last of the worst four (in my humble opinion).

I can feel your dread every time the-place-that-should-not-be-named enters into a conversation. And given that it's senior year of high school, it comes up more often than it probably should. While for me and my fellow seniors college is exciting and new and challenging and free from the ties of home, college to you is something just out of reach, seducing your friends away with offers of new people to befriend and love.

I know how you feel because I was you. My junior year of high school finished with the terribly bittersweet feeling of watching some of my best friends decide on schools ranging in hours away from home. I felt my stomach drop as they found roommates and picked classes and reassured me that breaks were never far away. We repeated over and over again that of course we would be in touch, I’d be the first to know about all these new college adventures. We planned potential visits to see them and their schools for weekends all year.

Despite their reassurances and my facade of confidence, absolutely no part of me was sure that come the following summer I could still call them my friends. I would be stuck here, reliving the boring routine of a high school year one more time, and months of them living with new friends hours far away from me and home would be fatally damaging to friendships that were hinged on seeing each other at rehearsal or Starbucks or in the hallway every day. Our tearful goodbyes felt like the end of the world for me and the start of everything for them.

I'm here to tell you that I was wrong. In the spirit of transparency, I had my days where it was heartbreaking to hear about their new lives without me. I did activities we used to do together alone and felt the immense weight of their absences. And despite the few times I called them crying from my school bathroom (they always answered), I survived. Not only did I survive my senior year without them, our friendships made it through too, stronger than ever.

On breaks, and now for the summer, they come home and we pick up right where we left off. We have more to talk about than ever before and laugh about their stories and my senior year. My visits to them were some of the most fun I had all year; the distance I thought would've been felt between us is nonexistent.

So, though it may feel like the end of the world and your friendships with seniors, I promise you it can work. Having some of your best friends move away and befriend new people can be terrifying and isolating, but with degrees of effort, friendships can absolutely remain intact. I'm not going to say it won't be hard, but it will absolutely be worth it. Take it from me, the most cynical of our friends last year: have faith in your relationships, get ready for the ride that is senior year, and believe them when they say that nobody can replace your friendship, no matter how many miles separate you.