Making new friends in college
LONELINESS is one of the principal problems in the first semester of college or university.
You go from being a member of the oldest and most experienced class in school straight back into the newbie group. And if you’re studying away from home, you’ve also got new digs, a new city and maybe even a new culture to deal with. So, here’s how to build up a network of friends.
Join as many clubs as possible
Go to every lecture and sit next to someone new every time. If there’s a work group, volunteer.
Join some clubs and speak to as many people as you can there too.
Say yes to every invitation extended to you.
Even if you aren’t into art, you may meet someone you like when going to an exhibition. At this stage, you need to meet as many people as possible.
Dare to step out of your comfort zone
There will be people you click with instantly and it will be tempting to cling to them and set up a comfort zone. Don’t.
If you have one or two friends and you fall out or decide to pursue different goals, you will have to start all over again.
The more friends you have, the more stable your life will be.
When you “click”, see the new friends regularly but keep moving around and making more.
Widen your network
As you build up promising new friendships, introduce existing friends to new ones.
This helps those who aren’t as enterprising as yourself feel less lonely and it means that you can meet in groups, which is the most efficient way of socialising.
Have different circles
Once you have a wide set of acquaintances, set up a few friend circles. You will soon see that your new friends fall into various groups.
There may be musical people, study buddies, sporty people and political people. Sometimes you can mix and match, but you may want to keep these circles separate.
Establish a busy social life by meeting the music crowd on band night, the study buddies for lunch on Wednesdays and so on.