I’ve always considered myself an extrovert, but just before coming to college, I felt nervous about making friends. It wasn’t necessarily that I was scared to meet and talk to new people, but I was unsure about how many of those connections would be maintained and blossom into true friendships.
A part of me always knew that my high school friend group wouldn’t last. We rarely hung out or texted outside of school, and in hindsight, we may have only been close since we saw each other every day. But at least in school, I knew who my people were — I always knew who I would sit with at lunch or partner with in class. There was no fallout or incident post-grad; we simply grew apart and went our separate ways.
Even though I only keep in touch with a few of those friends today, I’m forever grateful for the memories we made together — the good, the bad and the ugly. Every experience taught me something new, and I still carry those life lessons with me to this day. Leaving high school truly puts life into perspective; even just a couple of months into college, I remember thinking about how my high school self could never have imagined knowing the people that I’ve met or the experiences I’ve had.
My closest friends from my high school years aren’t even people I went to high school with: one of them is a close friend from my K-8 years, and the other two are friends from Chinese school that I’ve known since middle school.
Since we didn’t go to high school together, we had to learn how to maintain close bonds without seeing each other every day. Because of this, nothing changed in the dynamics of these friendships after graduation — we continued texting and FaceTiming as usual. In fact, this has stayed true today, even with all of us in different parts of the country for college.
I’m forever grateful for these girls. They’ve seen me through some of my toughest years, and they’re among the first people I share my major life updates with. I love catching up about what’s going on at each of our schools, and seeing them in person is always so special since those meetups unfortunately cannot happen often.
It was only after about a month of meeting new people in college that I recognized the power of the “orientation-week personality”— those first few days when everyone is overly friendly while trying to make friends. Not everyone puts on a front like that; in fact, I would say that most people didn’t. After seeing some people’s true colors, though, I quickly realized that they were not going to become the close friends that I initially thought they would.
Shortly after starting college, one of my friends FaceTimed me and said, “I wish we could just skip to the part where we know who our friends are instead of having to go through this awkward phase of making friends without knowing who’s going to stay.” After I started college, I FaceTimed her and told her I understood exactly what she meant.
It certainly took some time to find the ones I consider “my people,” but I am so blessed to have the friends I do today. Some of them are high school friends that also came to college in Boston. Some of them I met in the most unexpected ways — like one of my closest friends here, whom I met after I randomly started talking to her on the quad one day. Another friend and I were friendly during our first semester, but it wasn’t until our second semester that we became close.
My college friends are the ones I can go to for late-night talks on random weekdays, café study sessions or even last-minute lunch or dinner plans. They’ve given me a sense of belonging — while navigating the difficulties of college life, I know that I always have a support system, and for that, I am forever grateful.
The impact of our high school and college years, along with the relationships we form during these times, may stick with us forever. People look back on their high school experience for the rest of their lives — the memories made will forever be etched in our minds.
At the end of the day, there is more to life than high school and college, and I’m eager to see what the future holds for me in terms of new experiences and friendships. Still, I know that my college friends are lifelong friends, and I can’t wait to make more memories with them and see where our paths take us. We’ll celebrate each other’s accomplishments and support each other through life’s challenges. The people we keep in touch with after high school and college may surprise us, but those who stick around through the most uncertain times are truly the jewels in the crown of our lives.