High school (F) senior going to a local college next year, I really want to continue a very close relationship with my (M) best friend who is almost four years younger than me. We’ve spent the last few years doing everything together and we’ve talked about how we want to continue our relationship (friends) into our adult lives. The problem is, how will this be realistic once I’m actually an adult and living on campus (which is close by, but still). I know I’ll be meeting so many new people and I get that my friend and I are at different life stages but I don’t want to throw away what I have worked so hard to build just because of that. I don’t want to let it slip away, either.
I’m also not into the college dating or sex scene at ALL so friendships are really important to me, and as far as long term relationships go, if I ever went into one I’d want to build one with whom I already have a strong foundation, so keeping existing friendships like this is something I am really worried about how to do.
Any advice on doing this realistically? Is it weird, in your experience, to be super close with a high school junior during your freshman year of college? Provided they are mature and you both have separate social circles to turn to, but are still each others’ “go to person”? Is this even realistic? And, for anyone who may have been in a similar situation, do you have any tips for making it work?
Disclaimer: As far as advice goes, I won’t be sacrificing academics, or any of my future, for a friendship. It’s important to me, but I’m not going to put my future on the line for a potential future with someone else, regardless of how important they are to me.