Some of the most difficult aspects of college are making new friends and finding that place where you belong. We’re dropped into a whole new environment, and although we may know a few people who went to the same high school as us, it’s almost a completely new slate. At one point you wonder, “Is everyone having as hard of a time as me?”
During college, there’s also the task of maintaining friends, both from high school and college. Your friends from high school are the people who underwent some of the biggest milestones with you, but now it seems like they’re in a completely different world. On the other hand, the friends you make at the beginning of college are the ones that help you through the struggle of a heavier workload and living on your own, but may be difficult to keep once you’ve stepped past first impressions and begin to grow.
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A survey taken of 51 students at Bridgewater College, comprised of 45 females and six males, highlights some of the major changes that occur with both high school friendships and college friendships. Often, we feel like we’re alone in the negative college experiences we face, such as friendship loss from high school and losing a friend group in college. However, as the survey suggests, no one is ever alone.
Out of the 10 first year students, 23 sophomores, seven juniors, nine seniors, one fifth year senior, and one graduate student who took the survey, nearly half found it difficult to stay in touch with their friends in high school. College is a major transition, and more often than not, according the survey, some of the most significant people in our lives don’t make that transition with us.
This doesn’t mean that college will be the end of every friendship you made in high school. Friendships take effort, especially when they’re long distance, and if you’re willing to put in that effort, then the people who belong in your life will be there, too. But know that if you’ve drifted from a friend that you’re not alone, and it’s normal and is a natural part of growing up.
Over 70 percent of those who answered the survey said that their friend group has changed since the beginning of college. We all encounter major growth during college, and not everyone we meet grows with us or is a perfect match on the first try. The friend group you have during the first week of freshman year might not be the same one you have when you graduate, and that’s because you’re constantly meeting new people, finding yourself in new situations, and learning more and more things about yourself and others.
Finally, the survey displays that there isn’t one single place that you will find your college best friend. You may find them in your residence halls, at your club meetings, or even at class. As long as you’re open to new people, you’ll find a friend who will become one of the best things to have happened to you at college, and will stick with you for years and years to come.
