I know I’m a peculiar case. The usual story is that once you go off to college you start to drift away from all of your high school friends. Sure, you stay in contact for the first few months but as time goes on you all get caught up in your own new lives and slowly the texts turn from daily to weekly, weekly to monthly, and then eventually end up as just the annual “Happy Birthday” messages. Of course, you stay close to your absolute best friends and those will be the girls standing beside you on our wedding day, but the majority of your high school friends become nothing more than signatures in your yearbook. Unless you’re me.

If you’re me, somehow you are even closer now, in your sophomore year of college, with your high school friends than you were senior year. I guess going through the struggles of our first year at college somehow drew us together. They were the ones I turned to when I had a hellish roommate. They were who I texted for help with my homework. They were the ones I called walking home alone at night. They were always there. And it was so easy with them. All my college friendships were brand-new; they were still in the early stages. Sure I had awesome friends I loved to go out with and study with, but I couldn’t be myself around them yet, I needed time. My high school friends already knew the real me. My new friends wouldn’t understand why I hate cats. They had no clue who I was talking about when I started freaking out when my longtime crush liked my Instagram. But my high school friends did, so I told them about it all. And they did the same with me.

I am a firm believer than your childhood and teen years completely form who you become as a person. Where you grow up is one of the most important factors in determining what you will be like. The kids that go through school or sports or church together all grow up in the same environment. They know the same people, do the same things, have a lot of the same stories. These early years of your life shape your entire future, so doesn’t it make sense that you end up being pretty similar to those you share it with? Doesn’t it make sense that you feel this deep, unexplainable connection with other people from your hometown? I feel an instant bond when I meet someone from Long Island. They know exactly what I mean when I say the city, Ralph’s, South Shore, and the LIRR. My college friends look at me like I have three heads. My high school friends know exactly what I mean when I reference an old teacher or coach, or use some weird lingo only our high school used. My college friends just roll their eyes. It’s difficult to form a deep bond with someone if you have no history with her. You know nothing about what she used to be like, nothing about her family, nothing about why she is the way she is. You know all of this and more about your high school friends.

When we venture out into the new, scary world of college we want to feel a sense of normalcy, a sense of comfort. So we turn back to our high school friends. They are going to college with the same background as us so they get it. They have the same “normal” as us. They think it’s weird that guys wear polos to class and everyone wears Chacos. They miss knowing the names of everyone they passed in the hallway. They just get it. And who wouldn’t want to be close with people who just get it?

I’m proud to say that my best friends from high school are still my best friends. I’m glad that when I was home for the summer I became friends with people from my graduating class I barely spoke to during high school. I count down the days to go home and see my best friends again, and I hope this never changes.