Best Friends - After Graduation Life Changes

How important are the relationships your child has with classmates when the senior year ends?  Your teenager may have had friendships with some other students for two-thirds of his or her life.  At eighteen, that probably seems like forever, and when school is over it is often assumed those friendships will continue.

People Go Different Ways

You as the parent already realize what your teen will find out after graduation.  The majority of the people who graduate from high school together seldom see each other socially afterwards.  The ones who aren't close enough to your child to stay connected are less to be concerned with than the ones who are, and the reason is they may influence your son's or daughter's direction in their pursuit of a higher education.

Picture a single event that occurs in life and changes everything.  For an adult, this might be the loss of a job, a divorce, parenthood, or a career change that requires relocation. These are only a few of many different possible lifestyle changes.

For your teenager, that change might be graduation or the senior trip.  A young person thinking about how the old gang will be disbanded might want to discover a way to prevent it from happening entirely if the realization comes early enough.

Much of this comes from fear of the changes that come after high school and typically mark the huge step from high school into "the real world." By keeping something familiar close, it's easy to assume the changes will be easier.

Making the Right Moves

Choosing a course of study is so vitally important because of its impact on the majority of a person's future.  You don't want your child to go to college for a major in something that is not a good match for them, but there is a possibility of that happening when high school friends band together to take similar studies at the same university for no other reason than to stay together.

For this reason, it is important to start early in the high school years to explore what your children are really interested in doing with their lives.  You don't want to wait until spring of the senior year and have them decide to take a course just because their best friend is taking it.  This can lead to disappointment, and often result in poor accomplishments in their studies.

Keep Friendships Outside of College

While the term "best friends forever" may be important, career directions aren't realistically a part of that philosophy.  If two young people are best friends, they will find a way to keep in touch. They don't have to attend college together to remain friends. They certainly don't need to have the same careers unless it just fortuitously works out that way.

If school chums can attend the same university and receive the best instruction in differing educational fields, then that is great, if it is what both students want.  The problem surfaces when one would fare better studying at another college more suited to their career objectives, but they let the friendship be the deciding factor.

Parents have to make sure that their children choose what's best for them, not what is best for their best friends.  Take the time to research and direct, so you can guide your children in making the best choices for their own higher education.