In an ideal world, you would both begin and end high school with the same BFFs. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work out like that---anyone who's been to the ninth through twelfth grades knows that the friend turnover rate is high. This isn't always a bad thing, however. High school is a wonderful opportunity to meet a variety of different people, which ultimately results in a few close friendships and a lot of introspection.
Freshman Year: The Friend-Crush
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You may or may not have had a tight clique coming into high school, but either way, this is a stage in your life when your friend group changes drastically. For most people, the excitement of starting fresh and befriending cool, fascinating peers from the other middle school drives a sort of weird, shy frenzy to lock down a new best friend. Two weeks in, you've got it decided: that fellow freshman with an amazing singing voice is going to be your BFF by the end of the year---all you've got to do is talk to her and prove that you're just as cool as she is. Sadly, the end of freshman year can come as a disappointment to some. Oftentimes, the person you had a friend-crush on just doesn't work out. They've moved on to a different friend group---one you wouldn't dare infiltrate. You may also find yourself in the lonely stage of growing apart from middle school friends. High school changes people and while you still may care about those friends, you simply just don't have enough in common with them anymore.
Sophomore Year: The Nomad
OK, so maybe that friend-crush didn't work out, but it's time to think bigger. Instead of aiming for one-on-one connections, you become closer to groups of people who all share a common interest. Perhaps it's some teammates from cross country or fellow violinists in the orchestra. You start by hanging out on a school basis and if things go well you're able to transition into spending time outside of school. The problem is, you only feel comfortable spending time with these people in groups; one-on-one you simply run out of things to talk about. You also don't yet have the security of belonging to any of the friend groups you spend time with---everyone in these groups seem much closer to each other than they do to you, so you spend your weekends hopping between different groups of friends. You don't have very many people, if any, to connect with on an ultra-personal level, which results in loneliness despite having many friends.
Junior Year: The Family
Ah, the golden age of friendships. If sophomore year was the experiment, junior year is collecting the results and running with them. You've figured out which friend group was the best fit for you and if you're lucky you've realized that you can balance two or three different groups. Now that you've found the people with whom you share the most in common, your enthusiasm translates into spending time with them 24/7. You're able to form deeper connections with each individual in the group and rejoice in having finally found some best friends.
Senior Year: The Real Housewives
Drama hits. You're all tired of high school, stressed over college applications and sick of spending time with your friends. It's similar to what happens after the honeymoon phase of a relationship; all those quirks you used to find so endearing just seem irritating now. You still care deeply about these people, but hanging out with them every weekend just isn't as fun as it used to be. Your group may fight over stupid things, which absolutely sucks, but you come out knowing who your true friends are. These are the people you'll stay in touch with once you go your separate ways to college, the people you'll make an extra effort to see during breaks and the ones who will be your lifelong friends. In addition to fortifying these bonds with your older friends, senior year is also a time when you'll make some surprising new friendships--oftentimes people who had been there all along. This can feel like a cruel joke; you would've loved to meet some of these people a few years ago instead of a few months before graduation.
For some, your high school experiences may not match the ones above, but for many, you'll find that your friendships in high school were dynamic. Life gets frustrating at times, or lonely, or dramatic. But befriending and de-friending so many different people gives you the opportunity to learn about your own values, likes and dislikes. You learn about toxic friendships, but you also experience invaluable bonds with people you'll stay in touch with for the rest of your life. These lessons carry over into college, where you can start fresh and begin the cycle all over again.
