Missing High School

Alright, so I know this may not be the most normal of questions, but I want to know if anyone misses high school, because i certainly will. I’ve gone to the same school for 14 years, starting in JK all the way to Senior year. It feels like the end of a lifetime to be honest, and it’s strange because I’ve never known anything else. I have so many friends, activities, et. al. that I participate in that it really feels like high school is my life and that college will be someone else’s.

What I may miss most, however, is my friend group. I’ve know most of my friends since before I knew I knew them. My two best friends I’ve known since JK and 2nd grade respectively. In high school I’ve seen them every morning early at Jazz Band and Vocal Ensemble, we took all the same classes, sat at the same tables, played instruments and sang together. They feel like more than friends to me, and i’m just not really sure how to cope with the fact that things will never quite be the same again between all of us. It’s harder especially considering how far apart we will all be: one is going to GA Tech, one to UPenn and I’m off to MIT (as a frame of reference we are from Delaware).

I just wanted to know if anyone had advice on coping with this sort of loss of one life at the beginning of another. Thanks everyone–

Having moved in high school from the one place that felt like home to me, I get what you’re saying. To be completely honest, I did often feel like I was living someone else’s life after moving. When you have best friends like the ones you described, however, they never really stop being your best friends. When you’re apart from them for so long it sucks and hurts and you’ll miss them more than anything, but the time you’ll spend with them over breaks/holidays will remind you that no matter how much you each change, you will always have that special bond. When I visit my best friend it truly feels like I never left (this is 3 years later) and we often forget that I even moved in the first place.

In short, it’s going to be really really hard, but you will find new friends/activities/your own niche in college as long as you don’t isolate yourself. You will adapt to your new life while still drawing from your old one.

Good luck, you’ll be fine.

I know that feel. My boyfriend has been my friend for seven years, and we hadn’t even been dating for one year when we left for different colleges. Another friend chose a college in California. Some stayed in our hometown.

Keep in touch using whatever means you have at your disposal. My boyfriend and I Skyped intermittently, texted, Snapchatted, and Facebooked. Try to get together on breaks, if you can. Maybe you can swing a visit during the semester every once in a while (it’s nice when it’s possible). And get busy at your own college; I missed people less when I had no time for moping.

I think that by the time high school was over, I was so sick of all the drama that I was glad to leave.

I never really had an emotional attachment to anyone other than my best friend, but she actually decided to go to the same university as me so I never had the chance to miss her. I feel like having her with me helped ease the transition from high school to college. I also think that only being a 5 hour drive away from home comforted me (knowing that I could just hop in my car and drive home was nice).

I know what you mean about the “living someone else’s life” feeling, though. I definitely felt that. Everyone around me was different, and being in Northern California rather than Southern California, they all acted different too. But I came to like the change.

Nothing is constant except change. High school was just one phase in your life, now it’s on the a new chapter. I’m not going to lie, I miss high school too…nothing beats seeing your friends everyday, an easy workload, and being able to go home each evening, but college has it’s perks too. You get to meet new people, socialize, and gain a new independence whether you realize it or not. I definitely went through the same ,“living someone else’s life” feeling. It was weird, it was like an out-of-body experience and that I was just a robot going through the motions. It sucked, but eventually you learn your place, you learn how things work, and you learn how to cope. Another thing is your friends dilemma. Friendships is one of the most important aspects of life. With so much technology at our fingertips, maintaining long distance relationships are easier than ever. Even with that being said, you have to understand that some relationships don’t last. Sometimes people grow apart, and it’s natural. But the way it sounds, you and your friends have a deep relationship, and that’s good. You can use anything from Facetime, Skype, Social Networks, or even online gaming to keep in touch.

When I graduated from high school, I had a few years period where I missed it, but over time I realized that it wasn’t high school itself that I missed, but rather the high school choir I was involved in and the memories that came from it, because that was what made high school enjoyable for me.