College is weird, guys. We all know this. We spend 25 hours a day, 8 days a week working, sleeping, eating, hanging out with friends, and then sleeping and eating some more. And then repeating the cycle over and over again. But probably the weirdest part, at least in my opinion, is going home over breaks. If you’re anything like me, the majority of your college friends do not live in your city, and in fact, live quite literally across the state, or even country. Suddenly, you go from spending several hours a day together to not seeing each other for days at a time. So below, I thought I’d give you a more in-depth description of what it’s really like to live far away from all of your college friends so you know what to expect during your first break!
These are the people you share your college experience with- the ones that stay up with you until the library closes at 1 a.m. so you can cram for that test tomorrow; the ones that offer to pay for your $5 meal when you forget your wallet or your card declines; the ones that pick you up when everything in the world seems to be falling apart all at once. They are quite literally your family away from your family.
But there you are, sitting at home, hours apart from each other, trying to share stories with the people you left when you moved to college, only to be met with confused looks and a series of ‘I guess I had to be there’ comments.
Don’t get me wrong- I love every single one of my friends from home. The experiences we went through together from middle school to high school are just as important as the ones being experienced in college. They were with you through the prom dates that never showed, the tests you thought you failed, the colleges you thought you didn’t get into, and the petty hallway drama you thought was going to destroy you.
But there comes a time when you just want to be surrounded by people who know what you’re going through right now. You want to laugh about that guy in your 8:30 a.m. “Intro to Volleyball” class, vent about the crappy cafeteria food, and even talk about the latest news on campus. But when you are hours apart, that becomes a bit tricky for obvious reasons.
However, there are two ways to look at this situation. The first is you could choose to feel lonely. Your college friends aren’t close, your high school friends just don’t understand, and here you are, stuck. Or, you could choose to see it as a miracle. You’ve spent only a few short months together (in which time they’ve seen your best and worst sides many times over, and you’ve seen theirs) and you’ve already developed this insane bond. When you think about it, there’s really no other time in your life that you are likely to make such close friends quite so quickly, and that’s a really special thing to experience.
These people you’re meeting in this new place- they could, one day, be your bridesmaids or groomsmen, godparents to your kids, future employers or dinner party guests. They will stay with you the rest of your life.
So while you may be temporarily separated by distance, you’re never really that separated. And when you all come back to your little college home, it will be like all the pieces of the puzzle fit again, and that’s pretty special.
*This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
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