Tips to Keep in Touch with Distance!
Hello future Hawkeyes! I know when I was in high school, one of my biggest concerns with starting college was saying goodbye to a bunch of my friends. While a few people that I once considered close friends are no longer in my life, I have certainly been able to develop strategies to keep in touch with the people that I love and care about. Hopefully, these tips will help you when you start your college life!
Message
This one probably seems obvious, but receiving a text message from a friend you haven’t heard from in a while can be so nice. It shows that you care for them and can do wonders for maintaining relationships. A simple ‘Hey! How have you been?’ can go a long way. Snapchat, Instagram, and Discord are also platforms that you can use to reach out to friends and mutually share pieces of your lives, but above all, contact is key!
Video Chat
Yes, texting is nice, but few things beat a video call with a close friend. One of my best friends is currently living in Utah, so we really don’t get to see each other often. In order to stay in touch, we video chat at least once a month, telling each other the stories of how classes are going, what dates we’ve been on since we last chatted, and any new friends or people that we have met. Planning a time to consistently meet and sticking with it is important — college life tends to get hectic and stressful, but the human connection should never take a back seat.
You don’t have to just talk while video chatting too! There have been a few times where my friends and I have baked together at the same time, showing each other our culinary masterpieces at the end. There is an abundance of things that you can do to make a video call more fun, so get creative!
Games
Playing online games with your friends can be an underrated way to keep in contact. Even if you don’t particularly like video games, there are plenty online that appeal to very wide audiences. I would personally recommend looking into Jackbox Games, which has a variety of social games that can be absolutely hilarious. These games are ideal for groups of friends to play together, but most games work well through distance. If you are someone who does enjoy playing traditional video games, there are an abundance of multiplayer games that can spark fun conversations with friends.
Teleparty
Teleparty is an online extension that allows you to watch movies or TV shows with friends online. I haven’t used this one since starting college, but during quarantine a few years ago, I watched multiple movies and shows with friends. There was one instance where my friends and I watched an absolutely terrible horror movie together, and even though I am usually terrified of horror films, I was laughing almost the entire time. I wouldn’t recommend only watching movies together just because that makes it hard to actually talk and communicate, but if you’re looking for something else to switch up your normal conversations, a movie or show can be fun!
Meet In-Person When You Can
Lots of people take for granted the time that they get to spend in-person with their friends. When visiting home for break, I always make sure to plan a time that I spend with friends and family. It is easy for time to slip away, and before we know it break is already over, so make sure you plan out your time well in advance to show that you are prioritizing your friendships and you care about them.
These are only a few options for keeping in touch when leaving for college. I have personally never had to work through a long-distance romantic relationship, but in terms of platonic and familial connections, all of these have worked for me! Like I said in the beginning, there are certainly friends that I have lost touch with, but for the most part, distance has had no harm on my relationships with the people I love.
Above all, make sure you prioritize the people that you love. If you still want to keep the people you care about in your life, don’t let them take a back seat!
Jami x