In college, everyone starts off in the same boat. We all come to a new place with all of these expectations from stories that we’ve heard or movies that we’ve seen. But most of the time, we don’t know many people coming into this experience. We have friends from high school, but most of them have gone off to other colleges and, while we can relate through some things, they don’t quite understand our own experiences of our new home.

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Getting thrown into a new environment often causes us to grow up very fast, resulting in a changed mindset. This new mindset can sometimes lead to us drifting away from some of our closest life-long friends. No matter how many hilarious high school memories, break ups, or lazy days spent together, it becomes so easy to stray apart from each other. We meet all of these new people who know nothing about us, and somehow they replace the people who know every little secret we’ve ever had.

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Olivia Wickline, junior Communication major, lost a really close friend over something minor and didn’t think that she would make it through the loss. She even compared it to a breakup. However, she states, “If a friendship is really at its end then there’s something there that doesn’t click. You don’t need to surround yourself with people who don’t support and uplift you.”

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People often say that it’s crazy how someone you’ve known for two months can understand you and have so much more of an impact on your life than someone you’ve known for say seven years. Wickline can relate to this directly, sharing, “I ended a six year friendship, but I found that the people I had known for maybe four months meant so much more to me.”

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Likewise, senior Communication major Carolyn Tome, has had friends fade away over the years and suggests to simply enjoy the memories that you share with these ex-friends. “I’ve met so many new friends in college just from going out of my comfort zone and remaining open to the idea of making new friends,” she confesses. To her, a key factor is to not force friendships, but rather to just sit back and let them happen.

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Sometimes, as we get older, we simply outgrow people. It’s important to know that this is 100 percent normal. These people that we used to be so close with are now at a new stage in life, and so are we. Tome adds, “Friendship cycles happen, and not everyone is meant to stick around in your life forever. They have a certain place in your life at a certain time. Some will be a constant, others will fade away, and others will leave abruptly and that’s okay!”

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As you venture through friendships, embrace the times that you share with people, become involved in new activities, and simply enjoy college. Whoever is supposed to be there alongside you will find their way.