Finding Forever in Friendships

As my four years of high school comes to an end (crosses fingers), talks about the future begin to unfold. While having a conversation with an old friend about destination university, we got to talk about what would become of the friendships we had, after graduation had come and gone. Without the hollow halls of Mary Ward and our day zeros to talk and “hang out,” where would we be? It was simple to say that each of us would call and get together on a regular basis, however, this might be proven to fit into the saying “easier said than done.” I smiled at my friend warmly and assured her we would be friends even if we didn’t see or speak to each other on a regular basis. This doesn’t seem unrealistic for our situation seeing as we have been friends since we were three and have been thrown into a tornado of changes and somehow managed to come out with our friendship relatively unscathed.

Heartbreaking as it may seem, the end of our duration in high school will most likely also mean the end of some, if not many of our friendships. Fear not, because though many may be lost, the future may unveil to us the true colours of our precious friendships. Through research and forums, I discovered that many high school graduates no longer stay in touch with their old group of friends, but have become very good friends with one or two. Graduates from as long as 30 years ago have reported close friendships with someone from high school, which I find to be a comforting thought. The prospect of entering a whole new world, whatever your chosen path may be, having to meet new people and create an entirely new comfort zone can be intimidating. I face the same problem, more anxious than intimidated, but none the less, the concept is foreign to me. So a few days after our conversation I began to think about what might prevent a friendship fallout and I came up with the following.

Challenge: Maintain life long friendships

Difficulty: Hard

Duration of the game: A lifetime

Rules of the game:

• Never assume
• Talk to your friend about your friendship concerns
• Make a commitment
• Schedule time to see each other once a month
• Make an effort and show initiative
• Find time out of your busy schedule to write an email or to call, even just to say hello
• Keep your contact information with each other up to date
• Do something memorable and make it a tradition and do it annually.
• Be open to change because change is a constant part of life and will occur in you and your friend’s life. Being accepting to change means you will grow together, not apart.

Note to self: Remember to take my own advice.