Nine ways to stay in touch with your friends after graduating from Exeter University

Unfortunately, delusion cannot last forever. We have to soon accept the fact that we have all finished our degrees and won’t be a five minute walk to our best friend’s house to rot in bed together, watch TikToks and debrief about your TP Wednesday antics.

It is simultaneously really hard and really easy to stay in touch with people, it takes about twenty seconds to say, “how are you?” but you must make sure you are staying in touch with the right people. Having to say goodbye to Exeter, the memories and your friends is hard, so here are all the ways to stay in touch with everyone post-graduation.

1. Social media

Social media is a super realistic way to stay in touch with your uni friends. Tag them in those TikToks that makes you think of them, like those Instagram stories and be sure to keep those streaks going. You might not get instant replies from one another so, make sure to give your friends some breathing room in case everyone’s schedules don’t match up immediately. Everyone is going to be doing different things like jobs, travelling or recovering mentally after finishing education. Be sure to keep sending those “catch up soon?” texts and one day, it WILL happen.

2. BeReal

BeReal gives you the opportunity to find out who else your friends are staying in contact with. Miss girl, why are you still talking to signet ring mullet man we know he is bad for you? Imagine the absolute thrill you are going to get from seeing your friends brush their teeth, stare at their computer and drink coffee, right?

3. Plan an annual meet up

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This is the best idea out of the whole list to be honest and basically everyone that I know that has ever gone to uni does this. Think about the number of times you see a group of people in the pub who can’t stop going on about how uni was the best years of their lives and how they are going to go on holiday with their uni mates and all that fun stuff. The best thing about this is that you can each take it in turns choosing where you want to go, and each year will be different.

Book this one in advance though guys because the “I can’t book that off work” and “I won’t be here then” will easily creep in the way if you don’t get in there quickly. To add a laid back vibe to the annual meet ups, you could make friendship group traditions that you always pledge to do like getting together at a certain time in the year. Regardless of what you choose to do, the intention is what counts.

4. Stalk each other on LinkedIn

This is surprisingly a great way to stay in touch because your friends will share the things that they are most proud of. Endorse each other on your skills and stalk where your situationships end up. Or, even better, find out where their parents work.

5. Write letters

Imagine the obscene amount of lore that you could write in a letter. Plus, you could actually keep them in a little box and have fun memories of uni or after uni life written down to look back on. Not only letters but sending cute things in the post to one another is also a sweet way to stay in touch, I’m thinking postcards and silly gifts through the postbox here. A keepsake to look back on with the grandchildren.

6. Zoom quizzes

Get that dreamy lockdown nostalgia going and get drunk on Zoom with each other. You can do games on Zoom like we did when we could not see each other for years. It is a super easy thing to organise and you can make it into a PowerPoint night. More points for creativity if you can update each other on your lives via PowerPoint night whether this is on Zoom or in real life because those would send me into hysterics.

7. Work a summer job together

No one actually ever said you have to part ways with your friends after graduation, so why not just work a summer job together? Or, better yet, move in together and work in a new city. There are loads of opportunities to do a summer festival job with your uni friends. At the end of it all, you won’t only have a wage that can go towards your next holiday with your friends, but you’ll also have new memories – what a win.

8. Make a friendship contract

This one is half joke, half serious. Make an agreement that you have to all sign where you agree how you stay in contact with one another and when you get to see each other. This legally non-binding yet emotionally significant document can outline the terms and conditions of your post-graduate friendship, guaranteeing that no one can escape the bonds of your relationship. Friends forever.

9. Do a master’s

Why not just take a master’s and force yourself into your friends’ new friend groups? Better yet, live through your friends who are actually doing a master’s and come back and visit them in Exeter. You get to live the uni life without the stress of the degree, genius!

Related articles recommended by this writer:

• Here are 11 awkward bonding experiences you’ll only understand if you go to Exeter
• Meet Sofia Aira: The Exeter University student who wrote an album for her dissertation
• Here are my 11 biggest regrets now that I’m in my final term at Exeter Uni