Leaving your hometown and high school friends for college isn’t easy. Thoughts will go through your head like, “How will we keep in touch?” or “What if people in college don’t get me like these people?”
It’s inevitable that you will go your separate ways, but don’t leave on a negative note. Make your last time together (until Thanksgiving break) a memorable one with these goodbye party tips.
School Spirit
Chances are, your friends are going to different schools, possibly hours away from each other. Integrate some of the features of your future homes to the theme. Decorate with all your new college colors and posters to remind you just how awesome the next four years are going to be. We know you’re excited, so make it mandatory that everyone wear a shirt for their new school to the party. Or, if any of you are going to rival schools and want to switch it up for a laugh, wear a shirt for each other’s school and see what people say about it. It could end up being an amusing twist of events.
Thanks for the memories
Spend your last night together reminiscing. Talk about those late nights you said you’d never forget, and how this one will be another to add to it. Some of the most obscure memories you have may be some of the best. Play your very last game of “never have I ever” so you can compare scores once you’ve all gotten a year’s worth of experience in college. Never have I ever done a keg stand? Just wait until next year my friend.
Going away gifts
Not necessary, but it’d be a fun thing to think about. I’m sure you and your friends have more inside jokes than you can even list, so why not integrate those into the party? Either get something related to everyone, or do a “Secret Santa” where it’s a surprise. Get one of your friends a gift that only your group would understand. It’s a great way to say goodbye, but also to remind them of some of the good times you’ve had in your hometown.
Promise to keep in touch, and don’t cry
It’s hard, I know. Before leaving for my first year of college I didn’t cry until I was on my way home from seeing my friends for the last time. I was convinced things would change and we wouldn’t keep in touch, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Thankfully, none of my fears came true, and my high school friends and I became closer when we were apart than when we saw each other daily. Social networking and Skype quickly become your best friends when you’re adjusting to college life. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
Don’t worry. It may be mid-August when you think Thanksgiving or Christmas breaks are forever away, but I promise, they are closer than you think.
Image: http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/View/frontpage/editionId/36216/NewspaperId/856/Default.aspx
