Making friends in high school was a difficult task. You need to wear the right clothes and say the right things to get the right people to talk to. You need to be in the right place at the right time, and if you have one slip up, you’re done. This complex series of interactions and reactions is like a Jenga game. As you grab your block of wood and cautiously push it out, a million thoughts race through your mind about the domino effect this one piece of wood can cause: either the tower falls over due to the missing piece or the weight shifts to another piece of wood and the tower magically stays afloat. While this may be the case for making friends in high school, college is a completely different game.
Everyone in college is comfortable with who they are, unlike people in high school. In high school, people are still struggling to find out who they are and where they fit in in the world. However, in college, everyone has already found themselves and has accepted themselves for who they are. Therefore, they are more accepting of others and care less about what other people think, so they will be more willing to accept you and all of your wonderfulness. In college, you don’t have to worry about buying certain clothes and listening to certain music because you will be accepted for who you are as an individual. The right people will find you.
While you may think that all of the problems and predicaments you encounter are specific to you, believe it or not, everyone else in college is in the same boat as you. You are all working toward receiving your intended degree for your desired major so you can take your talents to the workforce and finally be able to do the job you’ve always dreamed of doing. So while you may think you are a nuisance for telling people about your woes, remember that they are sharing a similar experience as you, so don’t be afraid to talk about it. Who knows? It could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
College is a serious and mature environment where your lessons are being put to the test to see how well you can function as an adult. Everyone is living on their own, so they are forced to grow up and be mature. The petty things that mattered in high school are completely irrelevant in college. So, it doesn’t matter that you were wearing the same clothes as your friend. What matters is that you are all in this together, fighting the same battles, and earning the same rewards.
Making friends in college is a lot easier than high school for all of the reasons listed above and many more. Don’t be afraid to be yourself and show your true colors because the odds are that everyone will love you for who you are and what you stand for. While making friends in high school is like a nerve-racking game of Jenga, making friends in college is like an easy game of Go Fish, where all it takes is a few guesses to get the right number.
