If you're trying to make friends in college past first semester freshman year, well, in a couple words, it's hard.

Dorm life, high school level clique behavior and just not reaching out enough can leave you feeling like you haven't found your people. It's an unfortunate side-effect of being in a new environment and not having friends from home or your childhood BFFs to understand all your weird obscure references.

But no fear! Despite how hard navigating the waters into friendship can be, there are some simple ways to do it. Here's some advice:

1. Join an organization you're interested in

I will never advise joining something just for friends. But joining an organization where you participate in actively is a sure-fire way to meet people you have things in common with. Having things in common is one of the first steps to finding friends & ensuring meaningful relationships.

2. Join Greek Life

Greek Life is not for everybody but for people who are interested, it offers so many opportunities to network with other people and to get to know people from all different backgrounds. If you're looking to switch things up, find people you vibe with, and to have a community you can eventually receive so much support from, I would recommend Greek Life.

3. Put out positive energy

Now, a caveat for the first two options. Before you can go out into any situation and make friends, a basic measure is that you take the time and energy to make sure you aren't creating any off-putting situations or giving off any bad energies. If you've had a bad day or just aren't someone who likes to talk a lot, that doesn't mean you can't still make friends. You get back the energy you put out into any situation. And even if you're awkward, quiet or laid back, you'll find your people if you reach out even a little.