Survival Tips π for Those Whose Friends π« Are Away at College π’π« ...

One of the hardest transitions of my life was when my friends went away to college. We were the same age, but I had decided to stay in my hometown for college while most of them moved away. Iβve been reminded just what a difficult transition it was this year, when my brother moved across the country and away from his friends to go to college. No matter where you are in life, leaving your friends to start a new chapter of your life is difficult. Whether youβre still in high school and all of your friends left for college, or you decided to stay in your hometown while your friends left, surviving this transition is not an easy task, and itβs a change that takes some getting used to!
Before your friends leave for college, let them know just how important they are to you. Whether that means having an emotional night-in where you all cry about how much youβre going to miss each other (Iβve been there, and Iβm pretty sure that everyone has) or you simply get a few gifts that have a lot of meaning, make sure your friends know that theyβre important to you. That little reminder before they leave will be important in the coming monthsβyouβll both be more apt to maintain a relationship if you do that.
One of the weirdest but best parts about leaving your high school friends is that suddenly itβs all about what you like and dislike. A lot of the time, you spend so much time with your high school friends that their likes and dislikes can become yours by proxy. Now that youβre not spending as much time around them, focus on what you like and try to make a hobby out of it. It will help distract you from missing your friends!
It can be easy to get down on yourself for not having your friends around, and instantly try to recluse. However, donβt let those voices take over. Instead, make the most of your current life. If youβre still in high school, get involved in school events. Go to football games. Get involved with clubs. You may find that you make a ton of friends just because you didnβt let yourself sit around and get sad that you werenβt with your friends.
Weβre so lucky that we live in a time where we can just pick up a phone and send a text to nearly anyone, or we can keep up with our friends via social media. Of course, itβs not an ideal method of communication, but itβs a great way to stay in touch and involved in each otherβs lives, even if you canβt be together in person.
When I was leaving my own friends for college, one of the hardest truths that I had to accept was that things would change. It was hard to believe that Iβd never see my friends every single day again, or that weβd roam the halls of our high school again. Your relationships with your friends will change, but they donβt necessarily have to change in a bad way if you can be open to that change!
Often when you start a new chapter of your life without the friends that youβve always had, it can be so easy to be closed off to meeting any new friends. One of the first steps to making new friends is just being open to making new friends. If you feel like youβre betraying your friends by making new friends, youβll never be able to make new friends!
It is so, so ridiculously hard to move on from people that you love, especially when theyβre your friends and you donβt really have a choice in the matter. That being said, moving on and accepting that that chapter of your life is over is vital to truly coping with your friends leaving for college. That doesnβt mean that you canβt maintain relationship with all of your friends, but rather, that your friendships with them will take on a new form.
How have you dealt with your friends leaving for college? Let me know in the comments!