Over the years, people move away and those you used to be inseparable from go their own ways. You say you'll visit or call, but it's a challenge to stay completely true to those initial, sentimental promises.
You'd think that with the level of technology in today's day and age that everyone, everywhere would keep in contact with the people we know. From letters to phone calls, emails to text messages and now ever so popular social media sites, we all have the access and ability to reach out and maintain a connection. And yet, do we?
That's the hard thing about college. You go through four years of high school and find this niche that is made up of people you grow to love and care about. And yet as similar as you all feel, typically each of you have different reasons for choosing different colleges. Sometimes a few stick together but rarely does everyone stay in the same state. It's exciting, yes, because we want our friends to flourish and move along with their lives. But truly, the idea of leaving the comfort of those you've been friends with for four or more years is the most terrifying thing.
At first (you know those last few weeks of summer before everyone leaves), it's incredibly easy to say you'll talk all the time or visit every semester because why would anything change? All this time you saw or talked to each other every week if not every day. That's the whole reason you really used your phone: to figure out when you could see your friends, even if you just slept over the night before. But when you're actually gone and away at college, boy is it different. Everything changes.
It's not that you stop caring about each other once you begin life at a new campus; trust me, you will always, always care and wonder. It's just that we sort of forget for awhile. Being busy is a constant state of being when you're in college. With classes, feeding yourself, and creating a whole new social life, it's easy, if not expected for you to lose track of days. In a new place with unfamiliar people, it's only natural that you try to build new bonds and relate to people around you. And you often forget that while you're making new friends, your old friends are too.
Vicariously, you start to live through those old pals' Snapchat and Facebook, checking up on them and their new lives. On breaks, things are exciting again because everyone catches up and has their own stories. As you listen, though, you can't help but realize that while you're still close, new experiences and places have subtly caused you to drift apart.
High school teachers always tell you that what you do in high school will prepare you for college, but no teacher ever taught me how to regularly stay in touch with friends from back home. As a small ray of experience, I can say that the best thing you can do is try. Remember your gals or bros even when you have new ones. Remember that you don't call them old friends because they're a thing of the past; they're old because they've been in your life the longest. Keep them as long as you can, however, you can. Stay in touch, my friends.
