I’m heading to college far away from home, and none of my friends are going there. I’m a little worried about meeting people. What’s the best way to get to know others? -A Friend in Need
Walk around campus saying “Will you be my friend?” in a really whiny voice to anyone that passes you.
Or, be productive. If you were involved in an organization in high school – yearbook, student government, newspaper, environmental club, etc. – find the equivalent on campus and join it. Getting involved and meeting people in various areas that you’re interested in is a surefire way to make friends since you already have something in common. For those hoping to find some great college guy or girl, that can work too, by the way.
The people on your floor can become good friends of yours – many dorms will have gatherings, events and the like for people on your floor or building. That is a great way to get to know people and have some fun.
Orientation at college is the first introduction you’ll have to people at your school, so take advantage of that possibility. The same goes for the first week of school, which is always full of activities from short trips to naked bungee jumping. (Well, maybe not that, but many of the events are just as fun.) One event I went to the first weekend I was at college caused me to have a run-in with the niece of a professor at my school, who was mad because I was made some innocent comment about her uncle. It’s three years later and we’re great friends.
Of course, then there’s your live-in friend-to-be: the roommate. You’re around them a lot, you filled out that survey saying what kind of person you are, so the person sleeping on the bunk above or below you could become a great friend too. Just don’t eat his Doritos.
Is college more difficult than high school? I have heard horror stories from people who went off and were overwhelmed. -Learning is fundamental – but where’s the fun?
That’s easy. Of course. You, your parents, the loan company, etc. wouldn’t put out that much money for an undergraduate degree if there wasn’t more to learn. And you got that 2+2 stuff out of the way already, so it’s time to expand your knowledge. By expand your knowledge, I mean 15-page term papers, final exams that count for a huge chunk of your grade, and reading hundreds of pages of textbooks a week.
That’s not to say that you can’t handle it. College is faster paced than high school is, but you also have some control over which classes you take. That means you can find areas that interest you instead of spending a semester reading Shakespeare when you can barely understand each sentence of Othello. Colleges know, especially for freshmen, that there is a transition that you have to go through. That’s why most freshmen take a boatload of intro. courses that initiate you into the term papers, final exams and textbook reading. It won’t be as easy as high school, but you also have more time to get things done, and you have some control. So it’s no biggie.
My parents have scared me. They’ve basically told me that I won’t get along with my roommate and that they purposely pair people together who don’t get along as a way to make you get used to the real world. Is that really going to happen? -Small spaces, big problems
Don’t fret my pet. Virtually dozens and dozens of students go to college and have a roommate. Some live to tell about it, and some don’t even have big enough problems to leave emotional scars.
I was paired my freshman year with someone who I’d say, with a few adjustments, was an identical version of me. That doesn’t always happen – two friends of mine were paired together freshman year and by October were in different rooms – but disaster isn’t guaranteed. Some people end up becoming so close to their college roommates that they stay close after college.
The nice thing about college is that you can request a room change. The people in housing work very hard to make sure that you feel like you’re welcome, and if that means finding you a room where the roommate doesn’t have a temper as hot as a radiator, they’ll do it. Not every roommate situation works out, but that’s why there are hundreds of dorm rooms waiting with welcoming people who’d like nothing more than for you to throw your clothes on their side of the room. Good luck, and thanks for asking.
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