Our source for the best advice, our ugliest laughs, our best cries and our best memories are usually with our best friends. Best friends shape how we see the world and in return, how we become the world we see.

Arguably the worst thing about having a best friend is not seeing that best friend. Whether it’s for a day, a month or years, not seeing your friends can be devastating. Big shifts in relationships happen when there is extra stress or distance between two people, and something that many seniors have been facing recently include those two things… graduation.

It can be easier to maintain a relationship through college if students live close by or even on campus together, like in senior Lily Yang’s situation. Yang plans to room with senior Shifa Malik at [insert university here] next year. 

But even when friends are together, college life can quickly become consumed by other activities and expectations; for this reason Yang explains  how she plans to facilitate “hang-out” time with her best friend and roommate through college.

“Even though we’re rooming together, we might be busy or studying, so we’re planning on eating together at least once a week to have some actual quality bestie time,” Yang said.

Some graduates aren’t so lucky, and college will create some distance between friendships. Senior Ananya Menon is faced with navigating a distanced friendship with fellow senior Saumyaa Sinha.  

“One of my bestfriends is my roommate, another is in the same school and the last one’s going to Pennsylvania,” Menon said.“We’re gonna [facetime] and make sure we keep in contact anyway we can.”

Maintaining relationships seems hard, and sometimes it is hard. But if it’s worth it, it can always be done. Whether it’s rooming together, facetime calls or best friend dinners, putting in that effort to see someone can always be done.