LIFE

Mom and Dad are packing up and moving? Whether you’re zipping across the country or just swapping one town for another nearby, switching schools is tough, no lie. Here’s how to make a monster of a change easy as pie.

Keep in touch…but not 24/7

You should never ditch your true blues, even if the distance between you feels like a hundred million miles. Text, talk and Face Time when you have a free moment, but try not to be attached at the hip. Remember, you need to make room in your life for new friends, too, and if you’re still two peas in a pod with your old pals, it might be tough to let anyone else in.

Change things up

Spend your first week in your new locale taking in the scene. Do kids dress differently? Listen to different music or obsessively marathon different shows? Take note of their behavior and try to adopt one thing they do, whether it’s wearing prepster headbands or watching Dance Moms.

Make a new school resolution

Now’s your chance to be the best version of you, with no preconceived notions to hold you back. Take advantage of your blank slate and be the babe that’s inside. Sign up to crew the school musical, join a dance team, try out for lacrosse, speak up in class, volunteer to chair the spring fling decoration committee—whatever sounds like fun.

Rethink the importance of popularity

Having your own group is important—we’re certainly not denying that. But don’t try to befriend the popular crowd merely because they’re the queen bees. Instead, look for girls and guys who share your interests or simply appeal to you. Maybe they’re wicked smart or riotously funny, or maybe they’re obsessed with the same indie band hardly anyone else has ever heard of. Whatever it is that makes you say, “I want to be friends with them,” go out there and do it! Set aside your shyness and go say hi, already.

What do you think is the most important thing to remember when you’re moving?

by Brittany Taylor | 12/6/2017