COLUMN: High school relationships tough to maintain

Lauren Conrad once said to her then-best friend Heidi Montag, “I want to forgive you, and I want to forget you.” If you’ve watched the reality TV show “The Hills” on MTV at any point, you probably remember this classic line.

It was probably one of the harshest moments of the show’s six seasons, but it proved one very true fact: high school friends aren’t always meant to last forever.

I know, it sounds harsh, but it really is the case. Once college life consumes you, keeping in touch with those friends from high school becomes more difficult with each passing year. You make new friends, become busy with school, extra-curricular activities and a new social life, and those friends who are still in high school don’t seem as important to you as they once were.

Think about it. How often do you really talk to those people you went to high school with? (And you’re best friend since kindergarten doesn’t count.) I can count on one hand the number of people who went to school with me who I still talk to on a daily basis. I do talk to others on Facebook or Twitter, but it’s rare and never a conversation with much substance.

However, I do have my close knit group of friends from high school who I try and talk to all the time. My best friend Alison being one of them. We try and talk to each other at least once a day, even if it’s in the form of a Facebook chat, a reply on Twitter or a few texts between classes. She’s at Louisiana State University and even though it’s hard not being able to see her and talk to her whenever I need to, I know she’s still always there for me, no matter the distance.

We may not lose contact with every person from high school, but the number will significantly drop, and that’s a part of life. People come and go all the time for a number of reasons. Our friendships may not end with an ultimatum like Lauren and Heidi’s, but over time, we’ll find ourselves drifting from those we once called our best friends.

But that’s why we have college. College is where we make the friends who we are supposed to have for a lifetime. We’re supposed to meet the love of our lives and the people who will stand in our wedding in the four years we have here at OU. These are the people who we should be counting on to always be there for us. I have four here I know I can always count on: my three roommates and my big sister in my sorority.

If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have had such an amazing freshman year. They took me to the hospital at 3 a.m., let me sleep on their floor when I had roommate drama and were part of some of my favorite memories from last year. Even though I’ve lost a few friends from high school, I know that I will always have my friends from college.

Lindsey Morrison is a public relations sophomore.

Lindsey Morrison

Lindsey is a former staff member of The Oklahoma Daily who worked as Opinion Columnist.