Keeping in touch with friends
 
by R.D. Gibson
September 2, 2004

Friends are hard to come by, especially good friends. But what happens when one moves away? 

Cheryl Lee graduated from Harvest Christian Academy. Alvin Taisague is an alumni of Southern High School. Their friendship first began nearly two-and-a-half years ago, as juniors. Over the past two years, they've grown to be great friends. Cheryl said, "Well, I plan on coming back every summer when I have summer vacation and during other breaks like Christmas but when I come back I'll definitely be seeing Alvin and we'll hang out."

Now how is one to keep a friendship from falling apart nearly 3,000 miles away? Tony Thompson, vice-principal of Father Duenas Memorial School, says that networking is key to a long-distance friendship. Thompson, who still speaks to his former students in the mainland, says that because of the location, it's definitely very difficult to stay in contact with friends. He suggests staying in touch by using e-mail and chatting online. "Just networking and keeping the lines of communication open," he said. 

Thompson also explains that the first year in college is one of the most emotionally stressful, due mostly in part to a person's homesickness. "Especially through that first year, that first year is very difficult for students. Number 1 they're homesick, sometimes they feel down or they have a problem and they just need someone to talk to and counsel them through their problems, help them see straight," he told The Beat.

A word of advice from Cheryl: friendship takes work and if you don't take the work in to keep in touch, the friendship will be lost. Do your best to keep in touch with them, because I've seen friendships that have fallen apart because either one or the other of the friendship hasn't put forth their best effort.