Surviving College Life

Relationships: From High School to College

August 26th, 2008 Jamie

A lot of you have requested more social life/relationship posts, so here is the first of many to come…

The leap from high school to college is a big one. It’s your first time on your own, really making decisions for yourself, and that means you’re going to change a lot-and so is everyone else.

Relationships change between the end of high school and college graduation-but not all of them are bad.  While it can be unsettling to see cracks form in what once was a rock-solid friendship, you are just as likely to find that you and your friends change for the better.

Girlfriend/Boyfriend

Some high school sweethearts do stay together through college, but they are the exception rather than the rule.  It takes a lot of work to make the transition from high school relationship to a real adult relationship-especially if it’s a long-distance thing-and it also takes a lot of maturity (which not everyone has at the beginning of college).

The majority of high-school-to-college relationships come to an end before graduation, whether because of freedom issues, changing values, loss of interest, or pure geographical distance.  That doesn’t mean you have to give up on high school romance altogether, just be aware that change is the central point of the college experience.

Best Friend

More than likely, your best friend will stick around.  It’s probably safer if you don’t room together-girls especially seem to have a hard time transitioning from friends to roommates-so keep your friendship strong by living apart.  Even if you go to separate schools, your best friend will, most likely, keep that title.

That said, you are both stepping into a huge new world of people, and broadening your friend circle can cause jealousy.  It’s not bad to have new friends, or if your best friend grows attached to his/her roommate, just remember not to drop your friend just because you’re meeting new people.

High School Friends

If you have a close knit group of friends, chances are you’ll stay in touch.  My high school friends started a group blog so we could all keep up with each other as we went off to different schools.  Now, five years later, we mostly keep up via group emails, and often get together for dinner when a few of us are visiting parents.

Everyone Else from High School

Your acquaintances, one-class friends, and yes, even the people you didn’t like will probably fade out of your life now.  Sure, you can keep tabs on each other via Facebook or MySpace, but you probably won’t talk or email much, and you’re unlikely to get together-or really even run into each other-on visits home.

There’s nothing wrong with that!  You can always keep in touch with the people you want to stay friends with, but if you lose contact with someone, you can always catch up on Facebook or at your 10 year reunion!

photo: happy friends 2 by lusi

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Entry Filed under: dating, social life