Friends come and go, and college friends are certainly no exception. In fact, college friends may be the prime example of that very principle.
As seniors prepare to attend their last classes and walk the stage at graduation next week, most have plans for what they are doing after graduation. For some, that might mean returning home to work at family businesses. Others will move to bustling cities to find work or attend graduate school.
Many will settle in new locations, start families or pursue long-awaited dreams. Because over half of the university’s student population is from outside of Mississippi, it is especially true that lots of graduates will find themselves in different places.
With this being said, it is time for upcoming graduates to face reality: You will likely lose friendships after graduation, and that is okay.
This does not mean that the time you spent together was in vain. All those Saturdays in the Grove, afternoon shopping trips on the Square and late nights studying at the library are no less meaningful just because losing touch with those you made memories with is a possibility.
You might make plans to catch up years from now, but before you know it, you may be needed at a work conference or unable to find a babysitter to watch your newborn. Perhaps your car will break down, and suddenly, instead of meeting up at some halfway point, you will spend your weekend waiting for a call from the mechanic.
Regardless of what form it will take, life will happen. It is impossible to try to plan around everything that could possibly be thrown your way. Time may pull friend groups apart, and that is a natural part of life.
Knowing this, it is important to appreciate those in your life while you still can. Before you graduate, meet up with a friend for coffee, or have one last study session at your favorite spot with a classmate before you part ways.
The friends you made back in grade school, for example, may not be such major parts of your life anymore, but the time you spent with them still shaped your future experiences and helped make you who you are now.
It is the same with friends you make here in college — though you may drift apart in the future, the influence they had on your life will remain a part of you, no matter where you end up.
Though it can be sad to leave friends you have become so close with over the past four (or five — no judgment!) years, keep in mind that graduating college is just the beginning of your future. You may grow apart from some of your college friends, but you will make new connections wherever you land. You may find yourself routinely sitting next to the same person at church or grabbing lunch with that one coworker whose cubicle you wish was closer to yours.
Congratulations, grads, and be excited for what is ahead! Your undergraduate years at the University of Mississippi will soon become a fond memory to reminisce over and tell your kids about, but there is so much to look forward to. Who knows — you may be one of the lucky few who will reconnect with your college friends when your kids follow your footsteps to Oxford for college.
MacKenzie McDaries is a freshman Arabic and political science major from Murfreesboro, Tenn.
