One of the hardest parts of saying goodbye to school and your campus for the summer is also saying goodbye to your friends. Freshman year, this can be especially hard. You had to leave your friends from high school and your family in the fall, and now, just as you had gotten close with your roommate and hall mates, you have to leave them for three months. As you get older, it gets a little easier, but not much. Through the teary, hug-filled goodbyes, we can look at the positives of leaving your friends and put the negatives aside.

You get to spend more time with your family.
Up until you went away to college, your siblings and parents were the people you spent every day with. It might be hard to go back to the rules and structure of living at home, but at least it teaches you responsibility. I always find it easier to get up and get motivated in the fall, since I am fresh out of my summer job and used to waking up early and being on a schedule. You don't get to see your parents and go out with them during the school year, and taking advantage of that in the summer can only bring you closer.

You can still see your friends even if it isn't face-to-face.
With the technological society we live in today, we get the luxury of Skype, FaceTime and other forms of web chatting so that we can interact with people who are far away. If all you did with your roommate was sit around and do homework, you can still do that over FaceTime. You may not have school work to do, but you can find other things to talk about. If you don't Skype, there is always talking on the phone. Also, sending a few quick texts throughout the day to let your friends know youre thinking about them can be extra sweet.

Find an activity that both you and your friends can share and talk about.
Pick a TV show that starts in the summer and watch it on your own. After the show ends, you can call your friends and gossip about what you just saw. If the show continues on into the school year, then you can all gather at someone's house and watch it together. You could also start a book club and after each chapter or section of the book, get together over the phone to discuss how you feel about what is going on.

Being away from your friends and college support system can be really hard. There is comfort in knowing that hearing a friend's voice or getting their opinion on something is just a phone call or text away. Even if you just need a couple minutes to vent about how your high school BFFs are driving you crazy, you know that you'll have someone there to listen. If your friends are too far away to drive and see over the next couple of months, just know that when you do get to see them in person, it will be that much sweeter.