Goodbye, see you soon: how to stay in touch with your university friends

“Ladies and gentlemen, we will soon be ready for takeoff,” the pilot announced.

My best friend tilted her head to one side and sighed. “Can you believe we finished uni? It seems like only yesterday we were in our first year.”

“Just wait until graduation, we will be bawling our eyes out,” I said.

“Well, at least I know we’ll stay in touch,” she replied. I knew that she was right.

We stayed quiet for the rest of the flight. Neither of us could talk more about it. We weren’t ready to say goodbye to all the people we had met in the past three years. Before we left, we had spent a few days meeting up with our friends. We got pretty nostalgic and shared stories, laughed about all the silly things we had done and made promises that we would keep in touch.

You swear you will never grow apart, but life happens and, without you really noticing, the years pass by and you simply stop speaking to your university friends

But we all know how these promises work – it’s one of the oldest stories in the world. You swear you will never grow apart, but life happens and, without you really noticing, the years pass by and you simply stop speaking to your university friends. But does it have to be like that? I don’t think so.

Although distance is one of the biggest villains in a graduate’s story, I’m trying my best to stay positive about the end of university. After all, having so many social media platforms can only help me stay in touch with everyone. However, it’s not enough to reply to your best friends’ stories to know what’s been going on with them. There are a few other ways you can make sure you’ll stay in touch.

The number one rule for maintaining all your friendships is to make an effort. While you and your friends will be busy settling into your new lives, you could always spare five minutes to text them or give them a call. It’s a wonderful feeling to hear about your friends’ lives after you haven’t talked in a while, especially if you used to chat every single day at university. If they live relatively close to you, you can even hop on a train and give them a visit. Every time my friends come to visit me, it feels as if we have never parted ways. To make it easier, whenever you think of your friends and start reminiscing about the good old days, send them a text. Don’t count on what they post on Instagram to keep up with their lives.

If you haven’t travelled together yet, it’s not too late to arrange a grad trip and make a tradition out of it

If you are not the type of person who’s constantly texting people or you find it easier to connect with your friends if they are in close proximity to you, I understand why you would be worried about your university friendships. However, you can always create a “system” to help you stay in touch with your friends. Let’s say you make a rule to call each other each Saturday, or at the end of each month. A couple of years ago, there was a popular tweet about two friends who had made PowerPoint presentations to update each other on their lives, so you can always take them as inspiration and get creative with your own system.

You could also travel together. What better way is there of spending the time you take off from work or studies than travelling with your friends? If you haven’t travelled together yet, it’s not too late to arrange a grad trip and make a tradition out of it. This way, you can enjoy their presence and get your well-deserved vacation. My friends and I have already brainstormed a number of cities we would like to visit together and, based on past experiences, we always have a blast together while travelling.

As I reminisce about my time at university, the pilot speaks once more: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Henri Coandă Airport.”

“I’ll text the group chat to say we already miss them.”