Going into college we all have a sense of panic, all being very open to making new friends the first semester of freshman year, missing our friends from home. As it goes on, some people are still as friendly as ever, but others stick to their group and huddle into that comfortable place where they would be with their friends at home. It can be hard, to open up and try to explain yourself to every new person you meet, while your high school friends have usually known you for years (unless you’re used to moving around). It can be exhausting, but then again a lot of people like having a new start for college. Do you choose to venture out or stay in your ways? Who says you can’t do both? We’re taught ever since we were little after all (especially if you were a girl scout), make new friends, but keep the old.

Have someone who you can work with. The one who will go to lunch or a party with you, the one who is around and there to see the world with you. Take care of each other when you’re sick, bring them lunch on a busy day. Be open to making new friends, because not everyone can stay around in one place. It’s rare to find someone who has the same plan as you, and you can’t miss experiences in the present because your whole heart and mind is somewhere else. There are more people out there who care about you than you may think. Don’t be afraid to take it and give it back. Make new friends.

Then these friends will graduate, find an internship, drift away, or get a job. Some may stay longer than others but a lot won’t be able to get that coffee with you all the time, but that doesn’t mean you lose them. Maybe you’re the one who has to leave, and you realize how much you will miss while you’re away, but there are probably people where you are going too. If you learned anything from leaving your friends from home, I hope you know you can keep in touch with old friends. At your lowest times, you may reach out to them, the ones who know you even better than you know yourself, and that’s what forever friends are for. These newer college friends may not have known you for as long, but every relationship is different, including friendships. Be open to helping each other, even when one moves away. Try not to separate the two either, keep the old and new in your life as a whole- we’re all in the same world. Keep the old.

If you’re feeling lost, you may find a friend in the most likely of places. Reach out, and remember that circles have no end- you’ll never stop meeting new people in the world, but you also never know what friendships will have no end.

“Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold, a circle’s round, it has no end, that’s how long I want to be your friend” –Sue Lynch, Girl Scout Song Book