Starting college is a pretty daunting thing to think about.

Sometimes, I'm bubbling over with excitement and enthusiasm and complete utter joy when I remember that I'm about to move out, live on my own, and make many new friends.

Other times, I’m overwhelmed with anxiety for myself and my current friends as we all part ways for more time than we ever have before in our high school careers, all of us stepping into new worlds.

It's like finishing a novel and eagerly awaiting the sequel to come out; you count down the individual days and will start rambling with anticipation anytime someone brings it up. As we recent high school graduates begin the fateful transition, we close the books of our childhoods and turn to the newly released sequels. While we are excited for this new content, it won’t always feature the characters we’ve come to love or the setting we’ve found a home in. It also may not be as strong of a novel as the original.

I may not be at college yet, but this is what I think it’s going to feel like: a sequel following the same protagonist with both positive and negative changes, occasional cameos from our favorites, further character development, new adventures, and a lot of emotions.

Though this means that everyone is parting ways for now, at least we’re all able to connect in the feelings of uncertainty that accompany making this transition. While I’m anxiously wringing my hands in Los Angeles, one of my friends may be nervously typing away at her computer in Arizona, or hiding out under her bed covers with a book in Oregon, or doodling over any paper surface in sight in Reno, San Luis Obispo, and even Scotland.

It’s a hard change from seeing each other every day, especially at an all girls’ high school, where there are practically no boundaries, so everyone is openly loving and affectionate with one another. These days, it's a lot of “see you at Christmas”s and trying to make plans four months in advance. However, knowing that we will all return home to Sacramento with stories to exchange and months of college experience under our belts makes it a little less disturbing.

But what of the friends we’re leaving behind at high school? The new seniors, juniors, and sophomores?

Unlike with my friends who will be transitioning to college life by my side (emotionally, not physically), my younger friends will still be fighting their ways through the tumultuous years of high school. Though I can see them at Christmastime just like my other college-bound friends, I’m afraid about how…different it might feel.

As the first day of school for them has come and gone, I’ve already found myself feeling a rift sprung up between us. Not that they’ve moved on from my friendship from them—rather, they’re going through experiences new to them and old to me without me at the school that connected us in the first place.

I’ve jokingly described the sensation as one that a parent feels when their child moves away over the past few days. As much fun as I may have had over my four years of high school, there were moments that left me feeling as displaced as a needle in a haystack: though there are so many others around me, I’m completely apart from them. It would feel as if I pulled myself back up to my feet only to have the carpet yanked out from under me again. But, in the end, I always had my friends to turn to, whether they were in the same grade as me or not.

Now I’m nervous about leaving behind some of my closest friends to navigate through these not-so-pleasant moments on their own.

I don’t doubt their capability; God, no, it’s not that. This is what makes it so much like the feelings of a parent watching their child grow up to me: the child is more than able to carry his or herself through trials and tribulations, but the parent is a parent, so he or she will still worry and fuss.

Overall, I did have fun and enjoy my senior year because of the people I experienced it with. That included friends of all ages and grades. I can only hope that these same people can experience this next school year with the same joy to strengthen them through hardships.

Change is rough. Personally, I’m not a big fan. Though it can lead to good things, it’s given me major anxiety in the past. Change affects all parties involved; there is not always a clear winner or loser, because it usually means everyone gains some things but loses others. Our parents are losing our everyday presences when we move to college. We’re gaining independence. But we lose the everyday presences of our parents and our parents gain more time to focus on our younger siblings. The list goes on.

And while I’ll definitely gain new experiences and friends, I’m going to lose time I previously spent with others.

So, to those friends I’ll be leaving behind in Sacramento: I miss you. Please make the best of how much time you have left there. Never give up. Even when it seems impossible, don’t lose hope. The school year will be over before you know it (just look at me—my memories of freshman year are still clear as day but I’m already going to college!). And even if I can’t be there physically anymore, I’m always a text or call away. I love you.