Keeping in Touch

Whether we realize it or not, college is the last time in your life where you will consistently be surrounded by people your own age. This is a beautiful thing. As you move on into the real world, you will quickly notice that people you work with are in different stages of life. While it is important to befriend high-achieving co-workers, this section will primarily focus on maintaining relationships with your college friends.

This – keeping in touch – is more difficult than I would have originally pictured. After graduation, most of us go our separate ways in pursuit of jobs. To put things in perspective, my three closest friends from college (roommates) are now located in:

• New York
• Memphis
• Little Rock

My other friends from school are primarily scattered across Dallas and Kansas City. In summary, we are all in different cities. This makes it difficult to not only get together, but also communicating. I am not sure if it is an out of sight, out of mind thing, but we simply do not talk to each other as much. To address this, I would advise putting together an annual trip as early as possible. Whether it is a weekend at the lake, an annual football game you all attend, or simply a weekend back in your college town, having a dedicated weekend established makes the process of getting together much easier. This will become even more apparent later, when most people are married and are starting to have families.

In the short-term, I would recommend putting together a fantasy football league or maybe connecting about popular shows you all watch. I admittedly do not watch much TV, but for girls this may be a weekly zoom surrounding the Bachelor. Just figuring out something that you can all discuss is important. In no way am I trying to steer away from the inevitable: friends come and go throughout life. I am simply addressing the fact that after everyone graduates, communication does regress. Try your best to make a constant effort to visit friends, whether you are planning a trip to see them or just passing through on your way somewhere else. If there is something fun coming up in your city (festival, etc.), throw it in your group text and invite everyone. Is everyone, or anyone, going to come? Who knows. However, someone needs to be the glue that comes up with the ideas and I would recommend being that friend.

One more piece of advice: follow through. This is consistent through any facet of life but is equally important with friendships. Do what you say you are going to do and do not be the ‘flake.’