When you join college, you’re essentially starting a new life in a different place while leaving most of your old life behind. Of course, we don’t mean to say that you won’t take anything at all from your high school days but the element of familiarity will disappear for sure. With a new life comes new people and like anyone else, you obviously will not know everyone from the beginning of college itself. A lot of people say that college life is where you’ll make your friends and have fun but what they fail to mention is that it is mostly up to you to be doing those things for yourself and by yourself. We do understand that trying to meet new people in an unfamiliar setting can be quite difficult and so, we’ve decided to make a list of tips that you can use to meet new people and form relationships during your college life. The best ways for new students to make friends in college include:
- Be yourself: This is perhaps the most important tip of them all. In a college with several other people, there are bound to be a few that are interested in the same things that you are. You do not need to change anything about yourself if you’re someone that’s worried about making a bad impression or generally just worried that people will not like the things that you’re interested in. We should also say that you shouldn’t be too worried if someone doesn’t seem like they’re interested in your hobbies; just dust yourself off and speak to someone else. Eventually, you’ll find a couple of people that you can hang out with.
2. Attend college events: Where else will you find so many people in one place? Events like seminars, college festivals and workshops among many others are a great place to socialize and meet like-minded people. Moreover, arts and cultural events are where you have the best chance at meeting someone with the same interests as you. Our only tip for these events is to be friendly, smile and approach people if you want to speak to someone. Also, being approachable yourself will definitely work in your favor. You can achieve this by generally being friendly and smiling as well.
3. Invite people to social gatherings: It goes without saying but the best place to get to know someone is definitely in an informal setting. Inviting people over for things like group studies, parties or to just hang out will allow you to spend some more time with people, which in turn will help you in making new friends. A good way to start would be to invite some people over to study together. If you live in a hostel, this way will definitely be the easiest for you.
4. Strike up conversations with strangers: Maybe its someone you’re standing next to in an elevator or maybe its someone in front of you at the checkout counter in the grocery store but if you do find someone that seems interesting enough, striking up a conversation with them wouldn’t hurt. Though we can’t guarantee that everyone will be up for such a conversation, at the very least you would’ve tried and tried is half of the job. Don’t worry about the prospect of being shut down or told to go away; its a part of life. Plus, it’s relatively easy to tell whether someone is approachable or not. If they look like they’re having a bad day, it’s probably best to stay away.
5. Look for college social media: Most colleges have their own pages on Facebook or Instagram that are commonly used to update students on issues and happenings. However, they are also a good way to talk to people and make new friends. Ask around and see if there are any social media accounts that are related to the college and follow as many of these accounts as you can. If you’re really lucky you may even find a separate group on social media for your own department and maybe even for your own class. Take advantage of these groups and use them to find new people to talk to.
6. Take up an on-campus job: If your campus offers jobs to students, it will definitely be in your best interest to take it. Working within the campus allows you to meet new people every single day as it will be a natural part of your job. Perhaps the best job to take for this purpose would be at a food stall or a restaurant present within your college. Find out and see if there are any good on-campus jobs that you can do.
7. Volunteer and participate: Your college will definitely look out for volunteers when planning an event. Volunteering and helping out with running the event can also help you meet new people as you will be heavily involved with the event and the people both attending it and volunteering with you as well. In the same way, participating for competitions and cultural events will also help in getting people to know something about yourself which in turn will lead to you meeting new people.
Part of the fun that you will have in college comes from the people that you meet and the relationships that you establish. Even if you are the introverted type who doesn’t like social situations, we would still tell you to put yourself out there as no real harm can truly come out of it to you. With all of this being said, we hope that you learned a thing or two about making friends with this article. And most of all, we hope that it will help you enjoy your college better. Thank you for reading!
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