Moving into college starts a new chapter in your life. You have to most likely move to a new city, move into a new dorm, and adjust to a new school.

Of course, one of the important things about adjusting to college is making new friends. Hanging out and getting to know new friends on your campus, can lead to forgetting about your friends from home. While making the most of everything your peers and colleagues have to offer, staying in touch with your friends from home is something essential too.

1. Call your friends

My first suggestion to maintaining contact with your high school friends is to try and call them at least once a week. Whether it be a quick five-minute chat, or an hour long conversation that explains every detail in your new life.

Getting a chance to update your life, and your friend’s to update you on theirs, is a nice break from studying or from class. I try and call each of my friends once a week, or once every two weeks. If you do not have the opportunity to call your friends (I often play phone tag with mine), sending a text updating them on your life is always great too! As long as the communication is still there, you are bound to be able to maintain the friendship, even from states away.

2. FaceTime them, too!

I also think that getting a chance to FaceTime your friends, every now and then, is a great way to keep up with each other. You can show them your new dorm room, your beautiful campus and even your roomie! I typically will FaceTime my friends once or twice a month.

3. Keep the group chat going

I have a group chat between seven of my closest friends from high school, and we still communicate in it about once every week. Sometimes it has something to do with our alma mater, or our hometown. Other days, we are updating each other on whether we are surviving college or not.

4. Visit your friends!

My two best friends are both within less than three hours from my school. This means, if I ever have a free weekend (and know I won’t be drowning in homework), I love to road trip to their schools. I get to meet all of their new friends, and see the similarities and differences between our schools. It also helps to take a break from school, relax, and enjoy the company of an old friend.

5. Connect over holiday breaks

I know that we don’t have a lot of time to be back home for thanksgiving and winter breaks, but try to get lunch or dinner with your friends. It’s a great way to connect again, if you have had a busy semester and did not get a lot of time to catch up with old friends. It also brings back memories from high school, and further proves that your friends are more than just “friends from high school.”

Your friends from high school will always have the memories you made together in high school back home. While sometimes friends can be lost once you do not see them every day, doing these simple things can help maintain your friendships and prove that they are lifetime friends.