Friendships come and go. College is a way to start over and make new friends, but sometimes its hard to find those people that you click with. There could be automatic clicks with people the first weeks of college that sometimes end up drifting away.
I had made a friend in one of the first weeks of college that I thought was going to be a lifelong friend. We called each other our long lost twins and were inseparable. They were always in my room and slept over just about every night, we did practically everything together.
Unfortunately, they began to drift away. It wasn't because either of us did anything specific. They had just begun to make new friends. Now I haven't talked to them in a few weeks.
We live on the same floor of the residence hall yet I haven't seen them or had any interaction with them. This doesn't mean we don't like each other, we just aren't meant to be close or friends at the moment. We still say hi to each other if we see each other.
No one ever wants to lose a friend, especially one that you thought would be a lifelong friend. But sometimes paths are only meant to cross for a short while. It isn't the end of the world if a friend begins to drift away and normally it is no one's fault.
Some people are going to leave but that's not the end of your story, its the end of their part in your story. And whos to say that you won't get close again with that friend along the line. Sometimes people just need to figure their stuff out and experiment a little with other friend groups.
Sometimes people and their interests change.
Eventually, a friendship could reach a logical ending. This should just help you grow as a person and push you towards those friends who are going to be around longer. Through my experience, losing one friend had brought me closer to two other friends that I had in my life. You can always look at the positive side of things, thinking about the gains instead of the loses.
if you want to work towards reviving your friendship or seeing if it can be saved here are some tips:
An honest face-to-face dialogue, explaining what you're feeling to your long-term friend. You might say something like: "I'm feeling as if things are changing. Are you? And what can we do to fix things?"
The main thing to avoid is blaming the other person. Instead of saying "You did this and you did that," speak about your feelings and why you're feeling distant from your old friend.
Diagnose the relationship. Why is it faltering? What could you do to put it back on target?
Most importantly, talk it out together. If you've been friends for so long, working out a conflict should be doable.
A good thing to remember too is you might not be making your steady friend's freshmen year in college. Some people find their real friends after a year. There is a good chance you don't even know the people who will truly be your friends yet.