The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 11/11/08 Section: Viewpoints

Mandi Sordelet Third-year public relations student

Relationships are the hardest things to keep hold of nowadays.

I'm not talking about the intimacy shared with a significant other, but of the closeness once shared with a friend from your past who is no longer in your present. Whatever the situation - the friend moved, you left or both of you went your separate ways - is irrelevant. Maybe you keep in touch for the first few months, but eventually it fades out.

After reading that first sentence, I know your mind is conjuring up an outdated image of an old friend you haven't seen in years. You probably spent a brief moment wondering how that friend is doing, thinking of the last time you saw each other and contemplating shooting a phone call his or her way when you find the time. Yet, in the furthest recesses of your mind, you know that you probably won't. So you settle for a Facebook message that the person may or may not return. And then that will be the extent of your whim to reconnect.

It is a sad truth that the lives of the people in today's society are extremely busy ones - almost too busy for relationships to thrive. Most people barely have time to catch up with those they haven't seen in days, so how can they be expected to make time for those they haven't seen in years? We wish we could, and we reassure ourselves that with the technology of Facebook, e-mails and cell phones, separation is virtually impossible. But how many times have you used these mediums to contact a classmate from high school whom you haven't seen in the last year?

When my classmates and I left for college three years ago, our graduation ceremony was a festivity of re-exchanging college information, cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses with tearful promises of never losing touch. For the first semester, we kept our words. Yet, by the time the second term rolled around, the promises fell backseat to new lives. By then, keeping in touch was less of a priority and more of a pastime. And there is little doubt in my mind that the same thing will happen with my current friends once we graduate. Between jobs, interviews and overtime, when will we ever have a moment to catch up?

Whether you're a freshman or a senior, you are familiar with the concept of losing touch. But here comes the silver lining: the new friends you have made. Sure, it sounds corny, and feel free to scoff, but the main reason why you didn't notice you were losing touch with old friends is all the new ones you've made. Will you lose them as soon as you graduate? Maybe, but then you will find even more new friends while keeping the old ones a phone call away. Whether you make that phone call depends on you.

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