College provides one of the best experiences to meet people and get to know yourself. There is a brand new adventure that awaits once a young adult comes to a new place, and so much to learn. It's as if you are given a clean slate, you can start over and reestablish yourself as a person and change your life. However, that is not always the case; there are a least a few people from the same high school or town you may know and you might distance yourself from them because they remind you of your past. This was the case for me, but I became closer to my friend from high school.
I did want to start fresh in my college career, but I felt like I was thrown to the wolves and had to fend for myself. I was very shy and not very sociable, it was a struggle to get myself out and actually say hi to people. I realized that staying in my dorm room and only getting out for classes, food, and exercise, did not make me happy. I decided to join some clubs to get involved more, but I was alone most of the time and I still struggled to make friends and say hi.
After a while, I stopped going to the clubs and felt lost, but didn't want to give up on making friends. Before I joined the clubs on campus, I did have a friend, he wasn't that close to me, but we did go to breakfast and dinner to the dining commons a couple times. He was from the same high school as me, but I felt embarrassed to be a friend to him simply because we were from the same school and had a few classes together. I was quite stubborn, I wanted to make myself into someone who could be different just by simply starting over when I arrived at a new place. However, it didn't go as I thought it would and I felt lost.
I decided to reach out and not close myself to the people I knew and it was the best decision I ever made. I feel more comfortable at UCSB because of the circle of friends I belong in now. It all would not have been possible if I didn't reach out to the person I knew from high school. What I learned from my experience in the beginning of my college career was to just be myself; everything isn't perfect and there is nothing wrong with putting yourself out there while being friendly. It was scary at first when I was alone and tried new things, but it paid off because I learned to make friends easily. There is a "great risk great reward'" but it's more worth to try out something than not do it at all; it makes the adventure of college all the more interesting and exciting.