DOES GROWING UP MEAN OUTGROWING YOUR FRIENDSHIPS?

Sometimes letting go and moving forward can be the most loving choice

- By Jewyz Ann Bunyi

Every new year is often seen as a symbolic reset, catalyzing attempts to scrap past mistakes and construct a redefined self. In 2025, I vow to be braver in the face of adulthood, stepping out of my comfort zone and shaking hands with change.

The sitcoms I binge-watched over my college years, like Friends and How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), portray idealized friendships, with characters sharing every facet of their lives with little interference from work or family. They constantly sip coffee at Central Perk or chug beers at MacLaren's Pub. I envy the characters' closeness, hoping to have the same kind of connection with every person in my circle. Yet the show's final episodes reveal that changes in their friendships will always accompany life's transitions.

At some point, I had a friends-come-first mentality like HIMYM's Lily. I'm reminded of the scene where she catches her friend Robin sneaking out early during a farewell party at her and her husband Marshall's old apartment. Disappointed, Lily confronts Robin, saying that the whole gang has to be present in big moments like this. Robin's admission that she has outgrown their friend group is a hard pill to swallow, but it's an unavoidable truth: it will never be how it was.