By Caleb Elliott
Friendships are one of the things that make high school special. They can last for years and can reach over thousands of miles.
For seniors Brenden Mead and Kaleb Rhonemus, the separation in college won’t be anything new.
While they were in seventh grade, Mead moved to James Madison High School in San Antonio, Texas.
Even with that move, Mead and Rhonemus still found ways to stay connected.
“We stayed close on (Snapchat) and Xbox when I moved to Texas.” Mead said. “When we both come back for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we’ll still hang out when we come back home (from college).”
When Mead became a junior he decided he wanted to return home to finish out his high school experience right where he started. He and Rhonemus were reunited and it was like they were never separated.
Now both Mead and Rhonemus are seniors and will be continuing their academic careers at different schools. Mead will attend Ball State University, whereas Rhonemus will go to Purdue University.
“I don’t think it will change things for us because we’ve already dealt with this when I moved,” Mead said. “I’m really close with his family, and he’s really close with mine, so we’ll still hang out whenever we can.”
Another friendship that has lasted since preschool is that of seniors Zach Carter and Owen Johnson.
Carter and Johnson both believe they have been able to stay friends for so long due to their equal interests in sports.
“We always would argue about our sports teams,” Carter said. “He likes the Bears and I like the Colts so I always give him a hard time about when the Colts beat them in the Super Bowl.”
This fall Carter will attend Ball State University, but Johnson will attend Purdue University.
“I think it will be different, but we have so many things in common and we will still find a way to stay in touch,” Johnson said. “I think it might affect our relationship. It’s either going to make us drift apart or make our relationship stronger.”
Carter and Johnson have been able to not only share the classroom together, but the court as well.
“One of my favorite memories was when we played on the same intramural basketball team,” Johnson said. “Zach got 10+ points in a game and we all celebrated afterward.”
Both Carter and Johnson believe next year will be different not seeing each other in the halls, but they know they’ll find ways to keep in touch.
“Our friend group is pretty close and we have a pretty active group chat.” Carter said, “I’m sure there will be nights we’ll blow each other’s phones up about something sports.”
For many elementary school students finding your friends might take a couple days or weeks. But for Hannah McDowell and Ella Bright, their relationship clicked the moment they met each other.
McDowell and Bright both recall meeting in kindergarten and instantly knew they were going to be best friends.
“She was in my kindergarten class and I don’t really remember how, but we were friends since day one,” McDowell said.
Both McDowell and Bright believe their friendship has helped them lean on each other when they need to while growing up.
“I think being able to grow on our own but still knowing that we have each other to trust and fall back on is what has allowed us to stay friends,” Bright said.
This fall the two will be splitting when Bright attends Ball State University and McDowell attends Purdue University.
Even with the split neither of the girls anticipate it will affect their relationship very much.
Bright said, “I don’t think it will be that weird because I know she is someone that I will always be able to count on and be friends with no matter how much time goes by.”
McDowell agrees and feels she has gotten a lot out of her friendship with Bright.
“This relationship is definitely one of my longest friendships and it’s helped me truly appreciate the true meaning of friendship and quality time,” McDowell said.
With this senior class seeing its high school experience coming to an end, the relationships they’ve made and the people they’ve made an impact on will last forever.
