People always say not to get too attached to your high school friends because they aren’t forever. Once you graduate, you go to college or just go separate ways and stop speaking to each other. While, yes, this does happen I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to. You can keep your friends from high school while still pursuing your future.

This is a sensitive topic for me as I do not make friends easily, so I tend to get attached and treasure the ones I have. The first couple years of high school were really rough for me for many reasons, so I didn’t really have any friends. This topped with being introverted and having extreme social anxiety made making new friends very difficult.

That all changed when I met my best friend my junior year. I had already known her in passing, but until then we weren’t really friends. We couldn’t be more opposite, but she helped me get out more and introduced me to my other two best friends. These three girls are the best friends anyone could ever ask for. Since our junior year, we have been inseparable.

Then graduation came, and we were all happy to be done with the drab that was high school. However, following the happiness came the tears. One of my friends and I were staying in Cape Coral to attend FGCU, while one moved to Gainesville to attend UF, and the other to North Carolina to attend Wake Forest. We were all going to be separated and it was an upsetting thought.

But we all made a promise to each other. We promised we would stay in touch no matter what. So, here we are, two years later, still the best of friends. We created a group chat to always stay in contact and we talk at least once a week most of the time.

I guess my point here is just because you move away, or they do, or they go to a college out of state, it doesn’t mean you have to lose contact. If you truly are best friends and you truly care about one another, something as small as distance won’t keep you from staying in touch.

With all the technology these days, society has made it easier than ever to keep in touch with people. Personally, my friends and I use GroupMe, but there are all sorts of other apps and programs out there you can use. There’s Kik, Snapchat, Facebook, etc. All these social media platforms make it to where you can contact someone at any point.

So, your best friend has broken her phone and got a new one with a new number and failed to share it with you. She goes to Duke while you are here at FGCU. What do you do? Just call it a quits and accept the loss? No. You go on her Snapchat and message her. You are able to get her number and stay in touch.

Despite being physically separated, my friends and I are inseparable. We are there for each other when needed and still provide the support the others need. When possible, we meet up and hang out like old times and it’s like nothing has changed. These girls are the sisters I always wanted, not that I don’t love my actual sisters, and I know I can always count on them. No amount of distance can break the bond we have formed as a group.

So, let me leave you with this statement: Just because they are out of state, doesn’t mean they are out of touch.