College is a huge change, obviously. You're suddenly uprooted from basically everything you've ever known and forced to acclimate to a new environment, fast. You leave behind the familiarities of home such as your family, pets, and friends. I graduated from high school a year before my best friend. While I was adjusting to life as a college student, she was experiencing all the "last" of her senior year. She had watched as my grade went through all the ups and downs of being a senior and now, as she embarks on her exciting last year of high school, it's my turn to watch.
The hardest part of leaving your best friend in high school is that you're both experiencing completely different things while simultaneously trying to maintain a friendship. The first few weeks she had no idea what I was experiencing because she wasn't on the same page. It's really hard to explain some of the emotions I had when first starting school to someone who has absolutely no idea what it feels like, but she did her best to understand.
Everytime something new or exciting happened I wanted her to be here to experience it with me. Not being there for her senior night and not having our typical homecoming picture was really sad for me. However, we've found the best way to keep in touch is random Facetime calls, even if it is just for two minutes, maintaining a constant form of communication is so important. She also insists on sending "daily pictures" so I don't forget what she looks like.
When I was back home we were able to spontaneously go to lunch or shopping (we did a little too much of that). Now that I'm at school any chance we get to see each other and do the things we used to do is really special. I think we all take for granted the little things we get to do with the people we love like going to your favorite coffee shop or singing silly songs during car rides.
Being on a different wavelength than the person you consider to be "your person" is a really big adjustment, especially while you're making new friendships in college. We always joked that I was going to find a new best friend to replace her but the truth is, even though I've found a great group of friends, I'll never have the type of relationship I have with her with anyone.
Any friendship you want to maintain outside of college just requires wanting to maintain it, the rest should come naturally. It's definitely fun to see her experience everything that I loved about my last year of high school and next year, I'll be thinking the same thing about her starting college.
p.s hi lyd :)
