Why we should appreciate our high school friends

Now that we’ve entered the final stretch of the semester, we are reentering our campus bubble and leaving the old world of Thanksgiving Break behind. Old home, old pets, and most importantly, old friends. During break, whether you saw your high school friends or not, you have to admit there are plenty of differences between your old chums from high school and your new buds from college.

I am probably in the minority when saying this, but I get more excited to see my high school friends than I do to go back to campus and see my new ones. Maybe because I peaked in high school (just kidding) or maybe (more likely) because they share something with me no one in college can.

Without further ado, here are all the reasons why you should appreciate your high school friends, maybe even more than your college ones.

They loved you even when you were hideous

Like most of you I’m assuming, I didn’t blossom until my upperclassman years. And no that doesn’t mean puberty. It means that after five years of braces and rubber bands and metal chains sticking everywhere in my mouth, I had a perfect smile. (Yes, I deserve to brag a little since I spent 5 years in pain. Sue me.) But my high school friends loved me even before that shift in the Brenna-beauty continuum. They loved me at 7am when I came in with bed head. They loved me at 3pm when all my makeup had sweated off and my bangs were all greasy. They loved me even when I had crushes on ugly guys. (Doesn’t mean they didn’t tease me.)

They know your hometown

So this doesn’t apply as much to me because Chapel Hill is my home, and I also went to high school in Raleigh (#CatholicSchoolProbs). But for the majority of you, the friends you make in your hometown are the ones who understand how annoying your old neighbor is or how long the lines always are at your favorite coffee shop. They understand the struggles of your small (or large) town, and most importantly they understand the best places to eat… that is always the most important.

They know gossip

Chances are that if you forgot about that one classmate from high school, one of your friends will remember them. And if they’re anything like my friends, they will launch into a bunch of crazy stories about said classmate that may or may not involve hideous unexpected mugshots or surprising sexuality reveals or crazy family drama… the list is never ending. Just sit down with them and look at an old year book–it’ll kill many, many hours.

They tell the best inside jokes

The best jokes come from making fun of things that happened in the past, it’s just a fact. Whether it’s that night spent laying on chairs and pretending the floor was made up of cockroaches, or that time you looked up Squidward memes for hours (just kidding that was all in the same night), you and your high school friends will talk about those random memories for years. I remember one time I was sitting outside with a bunch of my friends after school let out and I said, “Hey, I bet we’re going to remember this exact moment senior year.” Nothing remotely interesting was happening, but because I said that, I still remember it to this day. And therefore, I can make jokes about it.

They share some of your first experiences

First kiss, first sip of alcohol, first job… your high school friends were most likely by your side when all that happened. Hell, they may be some of your first friends in life. I know that I’m still friends with a lot of kids I met in kindergarten, and that’s something to be proud of. Your high school friends saw you fail again and again at relationships, jobs, classes, and they helped you learn from it. Granted, we all still fail in college. Not sure that ever changes. But high school friends helped you grow up and shaped who you would be when you left the nest.

They remind you of home

They remind you of high school football games and of late night sleepovers. They remind you of awkward crushes and embarrassing moments and lame parties. They remind you of family, of pets, of houses, of neighborhoods. They remind you of home and everything that means to you. Actually, you know what? They do a lot more than remind you of home. In some cases, they are home.