Top tips for maintaining long distance friendships

By Ellie Strahan, First Year English

The Croft Magazine // We often talk about how to maintain long distance relationships while at uni, but what about friendships?

Making the move to uni can be a really difficult time. Whilst it’s widely accepted that it’s normal to feel homesick when you first move away, missing friends who have also moved can be just as difficult and is far less talked about. Here’s three top tips to cope with long distance friendships at uni, because it’s easier than you think!

Keep in contact

This may seem like a bit of an obvious one, but it can be easy to lose contact with your friends from home when you’re not careful. Keeping up to date with friends while hundreds of miles away may seem pretty impossible, but regular contact - from calling each other to even sending letters - makes things far easier and more enjoyable.

As well as this, make sure to Facetime your friends rather than texting them all the time if you can. This is so much more personal and means you can talk about so much more in a shorter space of time, which is useful when you’re busy meeting new people and starting a whole new course at uni.

Whilst it’s tempting to ring up your friend every night instead of talking to your flatmates, this can be pretty detrimental to your own growth at uni.

Make sure to meet up with your friends when you can as well; if you’re going home for the holidays then this is often the perfect opportunity to meet and catch up!

Don't go overboard

Meeting so many new people in Freshers’ week can be seriously stressful, but whilst it’s tempting to ring up your friend every night instead of talking to your flatmates, this can be pretty detrimental to your own growth at uni. Make sure to give your friends a little space as well, especially if they’re also starting uni elsewhere.

Having a balance between talking to old friends and spending time with new people will keep you fulfilled.

Realise that they won’t always be available to chat and know that this is okay. Everyone will be busy adjusting to a whole new environment and it’s good to give yourself and your friends a little space to do this without being in each other’s faces all the time.

Having a regular time where you chat with your friend can really help with this and means that no one gets too upset if the other isn’t available to talk.

Be open to new friendships

Making new friends at uni doesn’t mean you’re rejecting your old friendships. Whilst it’s important to keep in contact with your friends from home, it’s also vital to form new ones whilst at uni. Having a balance between talking to old friends and spending time with new people will keep you fulfilled, giving you the best of both worlds in terms of uni and home.

Lastly, make sure to just enjoy yourself! Freshers’ is a really exciting time, so try not to get too hung up on home and really put yourself out there to make the most of your time at uni.

Featured: Bethan Howe / Epigram

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