With the snowy, cold holiday season behind us, it goes without saying that there is nothing quite like winter vacation — a time when we slam the textbooks close, turn in our pencil-smudged Scantrons and transition into 24/7 groutfit attire — all signs that the month-long break is in full swing.

Winter break is one of the few annual opportunities many of us students have to be back in our hometowns and catch up with old friends. We anticipate hangouts, lunch dates and several other opportunities to rekindle and reconnect those ties that we shared with our high school favorites.

But it seems that sometimes these expectant friendships are not always restored to their former glory, and it is ultimately nothing but a plain and simple indication of this particular stage of life where college students are in the weird transition from teenagers to adults. 

Young adulthood is a time full of constant change, growth and development. It can be challenging to realize that our friendships, both old and new, are going through that same process and are developing and changing just as rapidly — and maybe not intentionally, either.  

For instance, I find that suddenly people I wasn’t particularly close to in high school are now a part of my life, and all the while I have drifted away from those I used to spend more time with — and this phenomenon is not unique to only me. 

It’s not as if there was some falling out that changed the dynamics of the friendships, but more as if a switch was flicked at some point where some friendships turned off while others turned on.

This sometimes seemingly random shift in dynamics is indicative of the immense growth that has occurred in only a matter of a few years.

I don’t say this with a pessimistic view, but rather with a more eye-opening perspective that we should try to gracefully accept these changes in our relationships with others and acknowledge that certain people are simply going to be more present in our lives while others will drift out.

And it is nothing more than an indication of how we have all grown into different, and hopefully better, versions of ourselves that might not mesh with the same people as when we were 17 years old — but that’s nothing to be upset about.

In fact, on the contrary, it is refreshing to see how evolvement impacts our lives. Even a few years away at a different school, or even living a few hundred feet away on the same campus, can greatly affect us and our connections with others.

As I find myself writing about this idea of growth and friendship, it feels as if I am regressing to a 5-year-old me, talking about such a basic and universal concept (and it probably doesn’t help that the song lyrics, “Make new friends, but keep the old” are playing loudly in the back of my head).

But despite this feeling of regression, what a fascinating and extraordinary spectacle that while studying and writing and absorbing copious amounts of information at an esteemed university, there are still lessons to be learned in elementary topics like change, friendship and human relations.

And just like when we were 5 years old, the reality of growing up and growing apart from others is still a really scary concept, and maybe even a little bit sad. However, this gradual drift is something we will always be going through, and it continuously brings new people and better opportunities into our lives at times when we least expect it.

I suppose this lengthy, somewhat random, spiel about friends and growing up ultimately stems from how humbled and pleasantly surprised I am every time I return home and compare who I am catching up with now, versus who I was talking to a few years ago. And most of it is a result of circumstance and gradual, unbeknownst personal progression.

Yet it’s comforting to know that even as people go in and out of our radars, many of us are fortunate to have permanent key players who are rooted in our lives despite the constant changes around us and allow us to keep little reminders of ourselves from earlier times.

So in my desperate attempt to temporarily keep learning at bay and stop knowledge from seeping into my brain during the coveted winter vacation, I always learn a thing or two about friendship.

Nicki is a junior in Media. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @NickiHalenza.