With summer upon us, there’s a lot to look forward to. Unfortunately, not all of these things will include your college BFF. One of the best parts about going away to school is that you get to meet so many different people and form new friendships. Between living, partying and studying together, your college friendships tend to fit a completely different mold than your other ones. And while this is typically a good thing, in the summer time it can feel a little sad. Whether it is because you two live in different states, one of you is traveling abroad, or you simply don’t spend as much time together when classes aren’t in session, there are certain struggles every girl with a long-distance BFF goes through.
- Trying to find a time to talk that works for both of you. This is especially problematic if you live in different time zones. While one upside of my best friend living on the West Coast while I’m on the East is that I have gotten especially skilled at calculating the three hour time difference (I was never too great at math), it has taken some getting used to remember that when I am waking up and starting to text her about my night… she is still sound asleep. Even if you don’t live in different time zones it can be tough. Out of sight out of mind, right?
- Getting jealous when she posts pictures with friends you’ve never met. It’s a cardinal rule to “like” any Instagram your BFF posts, regardless of its content. But that doesn’t mean you don’t linger, hesitating for a second longer than you should, wondering who the hell those other girls in the picture are, why you have never heard their name before, and whether or not this means you are slowly being replaced.
- Long, nostalgic texts. With the technology we have today, there really is not excuse not to keep in touch with a long distance BFF… hence the lengthy, emotional and sometimes whiney texts about just how much you miss them, how your home friends just aren’t the same, and how your family is driving you crazy. Sometimes when you’re down you just need to vent, and reminisce about better days ahead for you both once—and only once—you’re reunited.
- Screenshots. Just because you can’t lay in one another’s beds hungover on Sunday morning, showing each other the embarrassing texts your ex sent you, doesn’t mean you are going to stop sharing every bit about your life with them. Maybe this is why you have suddenly realized keeping in constant communication with your long distance BFF has resulted in your phone’s storage being 89% full—probably due in large part to the copious amounts of screenshots you’ve compiled on a daily basis to send them.
- Mentioning their name, and your inside jokes together, into conversations with other people. When you and your best friend spend so much time together at college, it’s easy to forget that you actually are two different people—and that not everyone who knows you also knows her. This becomes problematic when you passively mention them in conversation as if this person is expected to know who you are referencing, or make a joke referencing something only she understands.
