College is weird. I mean, to be fair, life in general is just so weird. But college specifically is really weird. Sometimes it can be hard to adjust from your previous life and settle into college, but luckily you aren't alone. Literally everyone else on campus is doing the same exact thing. So I figured I'd give a few tips using Big Bang Theory gifs.
When I went to college last Fall, the one person I knew here was my roommate. Some people would be a little worried or stressed about going into a completely new environment, but I was excited more than anything else. My roommate and I were hellbent on making friends everywhere we went. We figured the best place to start would be in our dorms, seeing as we'll be seeing our neighbors more than anyone else. So we introduced ourselves to a few of the guys on our floor and we all came up with a rule: if you're in your room and you aren't busy, keep your door open. This was honestly the best idea we had all year. Sometimes people would wander by and just nod or say hi as they passed, but most of the time guys would come in and chat for a bit. We got to know almost everyone in our building in just a few months. It was incredible how easy it was to make friends doing that. The only downside to this plan is you will occasionally find one or two neighbors you don't want spending all their time in your room.
Another extremely helpful tip for making friends is to get to know your RA! The RAs are generally pretty dang neat, and they know all about events going on around campus. Usually they're pretty involved in what goes on around campus, and so hanging out with them means diving into a plethora of social activities. My old RA would take almost our entire building to go play $5 bowling every week, and he even organized intramural sports teams for our building. This kind of stuff is what really solidifies a community. So ask your RA about any group events on campus.
I feel like I'm not allowed to write an article about making friends in college without including Rush Week. Whether you feel like you belong in a fraternity/sorority or not, do yourself a favor and go to the events they host. Even if you don't feel like it's for you, you'll meet some great people and, even better, you'll probably get free food. Who knows? Maybe you'll find out you really do fit in to one of the greek organizations on campus. I never thought I'd go greek, but here I am eating my words a year later.
College has a fantastic and diverse community full of stellar people. It's so easy to get connected and find your crowd, you just have to be willing to maybe branch out of your comfort zone a bit! So when you move in this fall, remember to keep an open door and an open mind.
