One of the scariest things about being in college is not being in the same place as your hometown best friends. Whether they are younger, older, or the same age as you, there's a possibility that you all won't end up in the same exact place. You make new friends in college of course, but those people haven't grown up with you and stuck by your side at the absolute worst times in your life. After you go away, you may think all your hometown friendships are in jeopardy of failing. With my experience, being away from my friends actually made me a lot closer with them.
One thing to remember is to always check on your friends and see how they're doing and what they're up to. If you don't remember to check up on them every once in a while, your friendship more than likely will end. Friendships are a two-way street and without effort from both people, they'll become a dead end. This doesn't necessarily mean blow up their phones every second of the day but try to maintain common communication. These friends aren't at college with you so they don't know everything that's going on, but they don't need to know little details like what flavor of iced coffee you got today.
Being away from these friends for long periods of time makes the moment you see them ten times better. You get that happiness back by being surrounded by your favorite people and just having a genuinely good time. It's like you have all the time in the world to catch up with each other about every big event that has happened, and even gossip a little bit about other people from your hometown. If you were with them 24/7, these experiences wouldn't get a chance to happen and give you something to look forward to. An added bonus is getting to meet their new friends and they get to meet yours and make an even bigger group of friends.
At the end of the day, your true friends will always be there for you no matter how far apart you are. As the saying goes, "True friends are never apart. Maybe in distance but never in heart."
