Making new friends is easy for some people, and one of the hardest things for others. That’s one of the biggest problems people face when they go into college. Everyone made friends with people in high school and they’ve already been friends with those people for a couple years. They know everything about you, even the stuff that took about two years to get out of you. It doesn’t really sound like something you want to have to do all over again with a complete stranger. You’re already comfortable with the people you surrounded yourself already, and in ways, some might think they don’t need anyone else.

I had some really good friends in high school. We talked about all going to the same college before, but none of us were sure if we wanted to be serious or not. We applied to the same colleges, but we all started to drift off and decide different colleges were for us. I ended up trying to pick between Bethel University and Gustavus Adolphus College. One of my best friends was going to Bethel, and I knew that I could see myself there too. But I was worried that if I did make the decision to go to Bethel, my friend and I would end up only hanging out with each other and not making other friends. We talked about it and decided that if I did decide to go to Bethel, that we would for sure not be roommates. In the end, I decided that I would go to Gustavus.

I was scared at first. Both of my best friends were going to college in the cities and I was staying close to home in St. Peter. They weren’t close enough to see a lot, so I was ultimately going into a brand new environment without my two closest friends. I had spent my entire four years in high school with them, so the idea of having to make new friends was scary. I wasn’t all that great at meeting new people, so the thought of having no friends was terrifying. I would not only have to get out of my comfort zone but travel a great distance away from it as well.

I ended up making friends in the end. It was a slow process and it took a lot to get myself to put myself out there, but I did it and I’ve made a lot of great friendships. I knew what would have happened if I went to school with my closest friends. I was very dependent on their friendship and wouldn’t need to make new friends. College is all about broadening your horizons and starting fresh, and that’s hard to do when you still have a lot of your past with you.

I’ve seen a lot of cases where people who were friends in high school go to the same college, and they stay friends, but they don’t make new ones. Although that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s not always a good thing either.

Don’t get me wrong, I do miss my high school friends, but going to a different college doesn’t mean I’m never going to see them again. Actually, I still see my two best friends quite frequently. We may not see each other everyday like we did in high school, but our friendship has not changed at all.

I’m very happy with choosing to go into college alone because it forced me out of my comfort zone, something that I definitely needed to happen. And I definitely don’t think I would have created the same friendships I have now.