It was senior year, college was rapidly approaching and decisions were to be made. There was one school that was high not only on my list, but my best friend’s as well. We end up picking the same school. I don’t want to admit it, but part of the reason I picked the school was because I knew she would be going there, whether she had committed or not. We both graduated, which is the end of a major chapter in life, but we both knew what’s to come. There was so much excitement in the next couple months post-graduation -- so much talk about the upcoming year, texts whenever we bought something for our dorm, ideas about how things will go, other roommates, everything.
The first two months were rough ones for us. A lot of adjustments and transitions had to be made and we were slightly resistant. We were really out on our own for the first time ever. We had to be each other’s everything -- mom, therapist, alarm clock, friend, paper editor, shoulder to cry on, etc.. As things got better for me, I assumed my best friend would follow the same path. But eventually, I realized she wasn’t happy. Then she started to talk about transferring, but I thought it was just talk.
We had gotten so close in the first couple months, closer than I ever imagined possible. I never thought she would leave. I love it at my school, and didn’t understand why she didn’t. I couldn’t imagine her going to a different school. But that’s when I found out she applied to two other schools that were closer to home.
That put a wall between us, and that’s what started the emotional hurricane I was about to go on. I felt like I was losing my best friend, so obviously, that caused some emotions to arise -- none of which I handled well. There was a span of two or so months where we barely spoke and when we did, it was menial stuff, like talking about turning the lights off and whatnot. Those two or so months were the hardest of my freshman year -- lots of tears were shed, countless sleepless nights, and a lot of wondering of what’s to come and what if things stayed that way. But after winter break, we seemed to be fixed, like it was back to normal. In fact, it was better than normal because we were just so open with each other.
Fast forward to April, I've gotten over being upset about my best friend transferring to another school. I want her to do what's best for her and her education. I want her to be happy. It's recently come to my attention that not everyone feels the way I do about her transferring. Now is my time to be the friend she needs. She needs someone to support her through the difficult decision making process. She needs someone to tell her to do what's best for her, and not to worry about what others say or think. It's my time to be that friend.
No matter how much I would love for her to stay, I know it isn't in her best interest. It sucks that we won't get to experience all that I thought we would. I thought we would go to school together, be teammates, be roommates, and graduate together. Sure, I'm afraid of how this will affect our friendship. But we made it work before and we will make it work again.
Now that her decision is final, and her deposit is paid to her new school, I'm happy for her. She’s been stressing out over this decision for months, and now the weight is lifted off of her shoulders. In the end, Millersville is only an hour away from Alvernia. I know there will be many sleepovers and dinner dates in our future. Being separated will make us cherish our time together even more. Lately I feel like I've taken that for granted. I'm happy that my best friend is transferring because that means she will be happy -- that's all I want for her.
