Why it’s okay to drift apart from your high school friends
I wish I’d known this as a freshman
When you leave high school to go onto your next journey in life, you think you’ll keep in close contact with all of your high school friends. You idolize the group that’s been friends since middle or high school, thinking, ‘that’s going to be me’. But I realized the hard way that you do grow apart from the friends you made during high school — you all go to different colleges, make new friends, and inevitably, contact with them dwindles.
Looking back, I went into my freshman year of college with a closed mind. My roommate was my best friend from seventh grade, and we were inseparable. One of my close friends from high school was also going to the same college. Once the first semester began, my roommate started making all new friends, and the friend I met in high school and I were slowly growing apart. Yes, my roommate and I became ~literally~ closer than ever by living together, but she had a new friend circle that I didn’t really click with.
I ended up going home every weekend because I didn’t have my own circle of friends and I was miserable. I did have a few friends, but we only really talked during class. Nearly every night, I broke down crying because I didn’t have a group of friends like I did in high school. I tried turning to my old friends, but they couldn’t really help. I was fortunate because my family, my roommate, and my amazing boyfriend helped me through my first, very long semester. I switched my major by the end of that first semester, then over break, I started looking and applying to new schools that better fit my new major.
Once I chose to go to Penn State Berks for the fall semester, everything changed. My attitude shifted — I was finally feeling hopeful. I realized I couldn’t do the same thing I did going into my freshman year. Once I started at Penn State Berks, I went out more and started talking to people who were sitting next to me in class. I opened up and I learned from my mistakes, wishing I would have done all this a year before. Now, I know I can talk to anyone, and I’ve met one of my closest friends whom I cherish so much. Yes, I still talk to my roommate from freshman year and we’re still close, but I am also creating my own story. Maybe someday I will rekindle with my old friends, but I don’t dwell on it anymore.