Greetings Readers,
Recently, I did a takeover on the University of Iowa Admissions Instagram. I used the Instagram extension, where anyone could ask me questions specifically surrounding the University of Iowa. I wasn’t surprised by the number of questions that I got on how to make friends in college. As an out-of-state student, I didn’t have any friends from high school attending this college. I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t make any connections with anyone. I was right that many people keep in touch with people from high school, and that is their main friend group. However, I have made many connections with various people at this college. I am going to give some examples of how I built connections in the first semester and how I continue building connections throughout the year.
- Welcome Week: Starting off with Welcome Week. I recommend doing every event that you can, even if it’s not your thing. You might meet someone you normally wouldn’t ever encounter. The story that I will share about this one is that I met a girl in a sorority recruitment meeting who ended up being in the same major as me. Neither one of us ended up joining a sorority, but I still walked away with a great friendship.
- Making Friends with people on my floor: During the first week, many people will knock on your door just to say hi. My roommate and I were talking to some girls who lived 2 doors down from us, and I ended up becoming best friends with them.
- In class friends: Making friends in your major is a great thing to do, because you will most likely have more classes with these people for the rest of your schooling, so it’s good to build connections early on. You can do this by striking up a conversation with someone in a lecture (this is usually what I do), but many of my friends have met people in their discussions. Memory: Place and Commemoration
- Going to Clubs and Activities: I understand that going to clubs and activities by yourself can be a little intimidating. However, every time I have gone to any club meeting, not knowing anyone, I’ve always walked away with a new friend.
To end this post, I am going to mention that you can always make new friends at any time of the year. In fact, I just made a friend last weekend in one of my clubs. I hope this blog has helped ease some of your worries about making friends on campus.
Until next time,
Savannah
