Stephanie Oswald met her friend Kayla Braude in preschool. Their moms and older siblings were friends, so the two families would get together for lunch occasionally.
Growing up, Oswald and her friend enjoyed making silly videos and spent many hours playing the Sims. During the holidays, they would ice skate.
“Since I’ve known her for so long, she knew everything that happened in my life,” Oswald, a sophomore studying interactive design, said. “Now we mostly talk about our lives. We’re both in college, trying to figure things out.”
Friendships made in a person’s adolescence can develop into lifelong connections that survive high school drama and life transitions. Students remain close with friends they met in elementary school and even their preschool days because of the camaraderie and trust they develop throughout the years.
Casey Machenheimer, a junior studying English, said she met her friend Camille Gilbert on a recreational soccer league when they were 4. She said Gilbert’s personality interested her because she was extroverted.
“When we were 4, she was just a bright, cheerful, bubbly kid. She still kind of is too,” Machenheimer said.
Alexandra Beauchamp, a graduate assistant in psychology and lecturer in the subject, said proximity helps predict whether a friendship will make it because it’s more convenient to be friends with people nearby.
Being near to each other and calling regularly during the last six years before they went to college helped Machenheimer and Gilbert remain close.
“I think it’s because we were in close proximity and didn’t spend time together that we knew it was worthwhile to maintain a friendship when we were a long distance away from each other,” she said.
Eric Turner, a junior studying management information systems and marketing, said he still talks to two childhood friends. He has been close to his neighbor Katherine Kosik since they were 4.
“She’s always been around,” he said. “We hung out like every day, probably until middle school or high school even.”
They would do everything from playing tag, watching television and going to fairs.
One memory with Kosik that made him realize how much their relationship had matured was when they got drunk with another neighbor at her apartment.
“It was the first time we were all hanging out as adults instead of children,” Turner said. “It felt different, but it felt right.”
Friendships can be reinforced by sharing some common interests, Beauchamp said.
“We tend to make friends with people who are similar to us,” she said. “When you start a friendship at a young age, you have an opportunity to grow together and to maintain those similarities.”
Turner bonded with childhood friend and current housemate Cody Carter, whom he started talking to in the sixth grade, over shared music. He introduced Turner to rap, indie and rock songs.
Turner was the first one to settle on attending OU and convinced Carter to join him. They were roomed together freshman and sophomore years. Now, they share a house with four other roommates.
They share the same circle of close friends, and Turner doesn’t see himself becoming distant from Carter anytime soon.
“He’s just one of my best friends,” Turner said. “He’ll be in my wedding. He’ll be in my life for as long as I can see. I just don’t wanna lose a friend like that.”
