In high school it seemed that we were constantly hanging out with our friends, between tennis practice, going into the city on the weekend, and walking through the halls together, we were always with each other. So why then is it so hard to connect with your old friends once you go to college? Sure, most people go off to a university a few hours from home, so why don't we hang out when we do visit home? And why don't we talk all the time like we used to? The answer is simple yet saddening: we changed.

Going to college and getting out on your own changes you. You gain independence like you didn't have before, you focus on your classes, clubs, and new friends, and you get to experience so many new things that you couldn't experience in a small town. When classes first start you go home almost every other weekend because you're homesick, and you try to see the friends that are still there or are in town. But after a while, you only want to go back home to see your family, not your friends.

In college you gain new friends, friends that are growing as you're growing, friends that you can study for that film final with, and friends that you can lean on. So while your high school and hometown friends were there during one time of your life, you've moved on and you're growing. One of the hardest things to go through is outgrowing friendships. Once you grow individually and become a better version of yourself, you also outgrow some friendships, and that's necessary for you to keep growing as a person.

So while we enjoy seeing our old hometown friends if we happen to see them in a restaurant when we do go home, it's okay not to make plans to see them every time you visit. It can be nice to see them and catch up, but we've both changed and are different people now than we were then.