Being from a small town, everyone has their groups; those groups that you see on Instagram, still hanging out, still doing the same thing they were doing 4 years ago. Don't get me wrong, I love my best friends that made my awkward stages memorable. They will always be my friends. But at some point, it is time to move on from the lunch tables, prom groups, and cheerleading teams.
College is a time to explore the endless possibilities. You meet new people, find out what you like and don't like, and begin a new chapter of life. While this is completely possible with your high school friends, it also can always bring you back to the past. The past: that high school boyfriend, that girl who stole your senior prom date, that team you could never make. Yeah, that past.
Seeing these friends makes me feel like that past is my present and future. And I don't know about you, but I do not want to be stuck in that small town, drama-filled past. I love the lunch dates and the catching up after semesters away from each other, and I know that a few of my high school friends will still be my friends 30 years down the road. But just because I am still their friend does not mean that I plan my future career and life by their side.
Unlike many of my peers in high school, I chose to go to a school no one thought of. I made sure to stay close to home to be able to reconnect with those of the past, but made sure I did my own thing, planned my own future for the years to come.
There is so much more to come, so much to learn just in your college freshman year alone. If you go to a school with your high school friends, there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe join a sorority that is different from everyone else, take your own classes, live at your own place, and make your own new friends.
My advice to anyone who is going to a school and leaving their friends behind: do not worry. I stressed moving into a dorm with a girl I had only met once. I had major FOMO when I saw the snap chat stories of my high school friends going out in their college town, when I was laying in bed alone. And I survived. I joined a sorority with only knowing one or two girls from my first semester classes. Even though I am too introverted for my own good, I put myself out there. Majored in what I wanted to. Planned my own future. And just like that, I was independent -- the one thing a college class cannot teach you.
So, it is okay to leave your high school friends behind to create your own life. It is okay to go to a school and still be with friends of high school's past. It is okay to do your own thing and still meet up with old friends. Do what makes you happy in your college career, and it will most definitely be the best years of your life.
