Tips from a San Diego Tutor: Keeping In Touch After Graduation 


Tips from a San Diego Tutor: Keeping In Touch After Graduation

Seniors are about to graduate from high school and move on to different colleges throughout the country and beyond. Many high school seniors have been close with their group of friends for four years or, in some cases, since kindergarten. Although students are excited to be going off to college, as the last day of high school approaches the reality of being separated from close friends sets in. It’s a good idea to stay in touch with high school friends for a number of reasons and with today’s social media it’s easier than ever.
 Here are four tips from a San Diego private tutor on how to stay in touch after graduation.

1. Create a Google Hangout group

Students who have a small group of very close friends can set up a Hangout where they all can get together on a regular basis. Although separated by physical distance, sitting down once a week to Hangout is a great way to ease the social transition from high school to college. Many of you may be thinking that you’re the only one who was caught off guard by the amount of challenges that presented themselves when adjusting to a new town or campus, but after speaking with your Hangout group, you’ll probably discover that you’re not the only one. High school friends can provide excellent support during that first transition to college.

2. Create your own Facebook page

Creating a personalized Facebook group or page for you and your closest high school friends is a fun and convenient way to stay in touch. Although it’s important to make new friends and learn about different types of people on campus, there are certain things that your new friends won’t understand because they’re still getting to know you. It’s a great idea to have a closed Facebook group so that you can express any issues, accomplishments, or frustrations with friends who have known you forever. Just double check that your privacy settings are on to make sure what you’re posting is only seen by your closed group and is not available for the whole world to see (READ: “Advantages of a Traditional On-campus College Experience”).

3.  Create a study group

If you and four of your closest friends helped each other survive five AP classes throughout high school, you’re probably doing something right. Perhaps you all have similar learning styles or perhaps your different skills complement each other and help fill the gaps in learning. Of course, it’s important to find a study group on campus so that you have multiple people helping you study. However, during the first two years of college, it might be a good idea to choose one of the same classes each semester and help each other get through it. For instance, if all of you decide to take Psychology 101, the course will probably be relatively similar regardless of what university offers it because general education classes are fairly standardized.

There’s no reason you can’t meet up, via social media or remote learning technology, to help each other thrive in a difficult course. If you were all able to sign up for Psych 101, you might be able to ace that course the same way you did in high school. Of course, you’ll have to adjust to your remote study group because you may all have different assignments and different textbooks. Although these study groups are helpful, they should be viewed as a supplement in addition to self-study and working with peers on campus (READ: “Tips From an Irvine Private Tutor: Avoiding Stress During Finals”).

4. Meet Up in Person

Although technology and social media are fabulous tools, they are no substitute for real life, in-person socialization! If all of you are coming back home to visit mom and dad for Thanksgiving and the summer, it’s an opportunity to get together with good high school friends. School breaks are a great time to share and compare your new experiences and discuss any exciting opportunities as well as your academic goals. It’s also a good idea to have some good old-fashioned social time with friends for no other purpose than just to have fun. College is meant to educate young people and broaden their horizons, but it’s not meant to take away any of the good friends or positive social aspects that were formed in high school. In person socialization is always valuable and helps people remain happy and maintain healthy friendships.

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