There are two opposite views on heading off to college and leaving high school friends behind. One camp is heart-broken. They write each other long, emotional goodbye letters and cry at each other’s graduation parties. The other camp shakes the dust from their feet, yells “Whoo-hoo I never have to see these people again!” and never looks back.

I fall somewhere in the middle. When I graduated high school two and a half years ago, I was thrilled to be getting out of there. Like most of my classmates, I had outgrown AP classes and silent study halls. And there were definitely people I was fine with not seeing until our five-year reunion.

But you definitely don’t want to lose touch with everyone. High school is probably the most formative time of your life, and the people who stood by you through it are worth keeping around. That was definitely my experience. As a junior in college, my three best friends from high school are still my best friends in the world. So for those of you who are going to different schools from your best friends, here’s my advice:

1. You don’t need to talk on the phone that much. This sounds counter-intuitive but it’s true. Maggie has been my best friend since junior high, and when I went away to college I worried that we would lose touch. We tried to talk all the time for the first couple of weeks, but it was a lost cause. We were both much too busy. Now we talk maybe every two weeks or so, but every time we get together it feels like we were never apart.

2. Facebook is your secret weapon. The real secret to staying close to long-distance friends is the internet. In between phone calls, Maggie and I send each other Facebook messages or post on each other’s walls almost every day. We’re not even writing details about our lives- we’re sending each other funny videos and articles, or commenting each other’s photos. It takes a minute to send someone a Youtube video, and that little contact is enough to create a new inside joke and keep your friendship thriving.

3. Don’t lose touch with everyone. Even if you swore at graduation never to darken the doorstep of your high school again, keep in contact with a few people. Otherwise you’ll have no one to hang out with over Christmas break except your dog. Plus you’ll get invited to a lot more weddings.

4. Just don’t worry about it. Don’t freak out and think you’re going to lose all of your high school friends once you step out into the big world of college. As long as you want to stay close, you will. Meanwhile, enjoy the time you still have together.

What friends do you never want to lose touch with? How do you stay close to your long-distance friends?

- Tess