Remember the ease with which you made friends when you were in school? From sharing a crayon to eating together in the lunch break - it was relatively easier to trust people at that age. And any relationship established at that age has a higher chance of going on until ever. Those friends see you grow and change, while they change themselves. But the feeling of trust never changes.
Then you grow up and go to college where you are bombarded with peer pressure and meet various kinds of people from different backgrounds. College makes you grow up, to an extent - whether it is facing the reality that you aren't really as good as you thought at your field of excellence or grappling with crushes and heartbreaks. It is then that you start choosing people you want to get close to because, obviously, you don't want to be friends with people who would utilise the potential they have to hurt you.
Once you start working, though, it is very difficult to find people with whom you can connect at the same level. Professional relationships demand a certain distance. So, although you find lots and lots of interesting people, you don't really enjoy the same level of comfort as with your childhood friends. Sure, they keep in touch and share your special occasions, but you still call your "real" friends at 4 in the mornings when you really need help.
At such a point in life, if you get to experience campus life again, don't miss it. :) At the risk of sounding clichéd, the rigour and proximity that campus life affords you will help you make bonds that you would have thought you weren't capable of anymore. The amazing part is that you are so self-assured by now that you don't really compete with these people who are as accomplished, if not more, as you. And it's surprising how these friendships just continue growing even after you leave campus. These people and relationships are the ones you actually take away from campus.
Although I might sometimes crib a lot about my ISB experience, there is one thing I am glad I have after this year. I have a few very awesome friends.
