College is a place for new experiences and a world full of new people. A fresh opportunity to start over and create beautiful new friendships. But, no one prepared me for the reality of crippling loneliness of young adulthood and independence that I’ve confronted since settling in into Iowa State University.
All my life I’ve struggled with social anxiety.
Because of it, I became very anxious when interacting with my peers. Approaching someone first can be a terrifying feat, one that I don't do very often. High school forced me to be around the same handful of students in my classes every day. This made it a lot easier to interact with people since I was in a smaller environment with familiar kids.
In high school, everyone started and ended their day at the same time. Every single day was identical for students of the same class. Due to this, it was a lot easier to hang out with my group of friends, since we all had very similar schedules. In college, it differs by a landslide. With my two friends, it’s difficult to try to sync our schedules and find time during the weekday in order to spend needed quality time with one another. I now have time to myself, it leaves me lonely.
But, I think I need it. I think we all need it.
Regardless if we like it or not, as humans, I feel as if we have to learn to be lonely. As we grow up and become more independent we all begin to walk on different paths.The word independent has a plethora of definitions, and among that, is the definition; not connected with another or with each other, separate. If we look at loneliness as a forbidden emotion, it will only suck us into a deep sadness knowing that we aren’t reaching societal expectations.
Despite the expectation to have a ton of friends and have a vibrant active social life, there will be days where you are by yourself, left with your own thoughts and your own time. This becomes even more prevalent when you live on your own and are completely self-sufficient. And that’s OK. People come and go, but you will always remain in your own world.
You will always be you, and you will always have you plus, in a world of 7.5 million people, you will never truly be alone.
