Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Cougar
Growing distant from your high school friends is hard but you shouldn’t feel guilty over it. It’s a natural occurrence in college.
When you start college, it is all about how to dorm, meal plans, class schedules and figuring out how you’re going to make new friends. There is an assumption that the friends you used to have in high school aren’t going to follow you into your new college life and you’re supposed to deal with it. However, no one has ever taught people how to deal with it.
Transitioning to college is nerve-wracking in general. Whether you’re staying at home with your family or living at college, it’s a huge shift from the strict schedule that high school used to bring. You saw the same people every day and most of the time you make friends because of convenience, not because you have a deep connection.
That’s a very common thing with a majority of high school friends. You tend to have three to four people you are close to, but then there are 20 friends you consider acquaintances.
You might find yourself missing that group of friends from your science class or that one awesome partner from history class. But you shouldn’t feel guilty for letting time slowly bring that friendship to an end.
It’s natural to grow distant from people you don’t see anymore and just because you didn’t have a deep connection or didn’t try to be closer to them, it doesn’t mean you should feel guilty over that.
You are going to meet thousands of people in your lifetime and only a chosen few you will be able to call your best friends. However, you can still reminisce over a core memory you had with a high school friend and accept they were only there to be your friend during that time of your life.
Friends tend to grow apart because of changes in maturity, interests, schedules and a plethora of other things that are out of your control. College is one of those things that has you reeling with the whiplash of new experiences and instead of holding onto high school, you should embrace college with open arms.
There are over 40,000 people at the University of Houston and with a diverse population, each person has a unique story to tell, just like you do.
It’s okay to let people go and start meeting new people. In fact, researchers say people typically meet their best friends in their 20s.
So, close the high school chapter and get ready to start the college one.
Cindy Rivas Alfaro is a journalism freshman who can be reached at [email protected]
