Teenagers saying goodbye and goodbye and goodbye

Adam Thursby, soon to be a freshman at UC Riverside, writes:

August is winding down and that means reality has struck for all of us who are going to college. You really do have to leave all your old hangouts, friends, and habits behind and almost start a new life.

 

For me it’s not quite that drastic. I’m going to UC Riverside, close enough that I can home on the weekend if I feel so inclined. For many of my friends who are leaving California it’s a little bigger deal. Suddenly, it’s not just going to In-N-Out, it’s your last double double for three months. The trip to the beach is the last time you’ll sink your toes into the sand for a long time. And friends you’ve seen every day at school are giving you a hug and telling you that they’ll see you at Thanksgiving.

So now I spend a lot of time at going away events. This is hardly insightful, I know, but bear with me. Our parents have told us all about how going off to college is hard, you lose touch with a lot of friends, so we try to make up for that by having one last time together. Often it’s a bonfire at the beach. (We in the OC watched “Laguna Beach” too.) Sometimes it’s a “parental-sponsored” going away party, and sometimes it’s just a bunch of people at a pool.

I’m sure you have heard the stories about people who spend more time on Facebook or instant messenger than interacting with people in the real world, but those things already have allowed me to stay in touch with my friends who have gone off to college. Without them, I would have no idea that there’s an A&W root beer near Cornell with an indoor mini golf course. I wouldn’t know that there’s been bad weather in South Bend, Ind., lately and that Grand Forks, N.D., is really rural, but they have awesome steaks.

At first glance, these details probably seem trivial, hardly a way to create or maintain a friendship. But I’m reminded of how Charlie Epps (one of the main characters in the television show "Numb3rs") describes human interactions.  All human interactions are exchanges, friendship is no exception, it’s the exchange of information. No matter how trivial the information, it’s how we are going to keep our friendships alive.

Photo: Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Kyle Peters]

Great article adam, it already makes me think about the Double Double's that I'm missing in Ithaca where it has already begun to rain.

Kyle

[Lynn Ton- That]

The article above gives a strong overview of the process of leaving for college for many students while also giving a strong central message that human relationships//interactions are vital to a healthy lifestyle and so its necessary to maintain these healthy interactions in order to honor the bond between humans and to continue the exchange of information between all.

[andie]

This is a good article. It captures the exact feelings of the fresh out of high school students leaving home and starting another chapter of their lives. I am also a to-be college freshman, and can relate to many of your sentiments.

[Allison]

Great article. I am currently a college junior out of state, and I found the end of your article especially poignant, seeing as I'm currently telling one of my high school friends what I had for dinner!

[Brittney]

This piece describes perfectly what every college freshmen is going through. With everyone being so busy when they first start collge, it is the little bits of information that you pick up on facebook that make you still feel connected even when you are 3,000 miles away.

[Michael]

This was a great entry. It brought me back to 2006 when I graduated high school and made my move to college. You wrote it perfectly. It certainly grasped the emotions that surround this time of the year.

[Ryan]

This was a masterfully written piece that truly captures the sentiments and emotions that every graduating senior can understand.