Coming to college is often portrayed as leaving home, family and your friends for an extended period of time or even for good. When I came to college I wish someone told me that is not true.
A common fact told to many graduating high school students is that a year after graduation you won’t talk to 95 percent of the people in your graduating class. After hearing this I prepared myself to never my old friends or acquaintances, ever again.
People manage to forget that the five percent you still speak to are your close friends, many who you have been friends with since elementary school. These are the people that are difficult to live without.
Even after preparing myself to make new friends here at the University, I soon learned that saying goodbye to your best friend is indeed not forever.
In my case, I said goodbye to all my friends and in a matter of two weeks I saw many of them again when I returned home for a wedding.
The tearful goodbye’s you see in many movies is definitely a dramatization. The goodbye’s that I have always gave have just been like any other goodbye.
When I was packing up to leave my best friend we didn’t say an official goodbye, but instead we parted ways with a simple ‘see ya.’
You may hear stories from some people saying that leaving their friends was the hardest thing they had to do. Even though they had a difficult time saying goodbye, the reality of it is that those people may very likely continue to be a major part of your life.
As well as leaving friends, for many people leaving family is also something that happens.
When I left I thought I would talk to my parents less than I actually did. I talked to them more because I was away from them in college and leaving for college definitely improved the relationship I have with my parents.
Many people tie this into “leaving the nest,” but the truth is until you have your own house you never truly leave the nest.
You will always have roots at home holding you there, and those friends who you thought would disappear often times stick around.
