You haven't really seen or hung out with your high school friends for real since last summer. If you're lucky, maybe you see them a couple of times over the breaks, but usually, people are busy when you try to plan something. Or, you're like me and have shorter breaks than you did in high school, leading you to not have much time. It's hard to balance hanging with friends, boyfriends and girlfriends, and your family when you have such a short time period. But now summer 2017 is coming and it's going to be a lot different.

You just spent an entire year away from home with new friends, some of you in different states and vibes. It's a weird feeling starting completely new, and then this summer we almost have to go back to exactly how it was before we left. Summer 2016 was all about making this summer the best one yet since we only had a couple months until we all embarked on new journeys. We were all scared about making a whole new set of friends and missing seeing your best friends everyday at school and on weekends. But now this summer we'll be all together again, and before we know it be separated again. It's a weird feeling to be living at home again, almost feeling like you're still in high school and you never left. Some friends will pick up right where they left off, while others may start missing their college friends very very soon. You'll see how some of your friends have changed, whether it's their hairstyle or clothes, to their personality and the way they see the world.

It's hard. And this summer is going to be hard. Part of me is really going to miss college and all of the amazing people I met here, but the other part of me desperately misses my high school friends and misses the ways it was before we all left each other. But we're going to leave each other again and again and it's going to be harder each time. We only get a few months to regain and refuel those friendships, and then they will get demolished again when we leave each other in August/September. So what's the point some may ask?

My advice to you is to just live your life in the present this summer. Enjoy every single second you spend, even if you randomly see a teacher or classmate from high school at the grocery store and it may feel weird and awkward that so much time has passed and you're on totally different paths now. Spend time with your high school friends and reminisce on the "high school days" and all of the amazing memories you have. Don't think college is about forgetting high school, and maybe for some that's their goal, but you have to remember all of the memories you made before this new and exciting chapter of your life. There was a reason why all of your friends from before college came into your life, each one teaching you a valuable lesson and God believing you and that person would be a compatible match. Live more this summer, take some risks, do some new things with old friends, and just enjoy. You'll have time to reunite with your squad in September, so don't rush it.