Okay, so you are entering college, either as a Freshman or Upperclassmen. You're super excited to start the year and be the best you can be. You either have your friend group all worked out or you've met some pretty cool people and have began to call them your friends. In any case YOU ARE READY for this year! However, you are terrified that you don't have the interpersonal skills to maintain these friendships. Well, today's your lucky day, here are just a few things that you can do to maintain those close or still blossoming friendships.
First off, having a lot of friends isn't bad, you're going to have lot of friends becasue not everyone on campus is friends and everyone won't have mutual friends. However, you don't want to have so many that you stop spending time with others. You may find yourself spending time with Roger, Suzie, and Katherine, and then all of a sudden you ditch them (on accident) and starting spending time with Phillip, James, Ashley, and Cynthia. Find a nice balance, try to find times where you can hang out with all of them at the same time. For example, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are excellent times to find a great big table or to push a few together and have some serious fun. Also, try and introduce your different friends to each other. This will insure that you hang out with everyone and have time for everyone. It's all about balance.
Second, and this is important for Freshman, don't start dating to soon, especially if you're trying to date someone in your friend group. Trust me when I say this, breakups in a friend group split the group in half or alienate one friend from the others. it's very messy, take some time and enjoy being friends first, not this would be completely different if we were talking about 'The One", but I'm pretty sure as Freshman you're not looking for that, so go ahead and be friends for awhile. Then, if you decide to date and end up breaking up, be civilized and don't pit friends against friends, be respectful and everyone can get along.
Third and most important is communication. With friends you won't always want get along. Someone might do something that really agitates you, but guess what, they'll never know unless you tell them. Take them aside and just explain the situation or else you'll be sitting there quietly steaming in your anger and everyone else is looking at you like you have three heads. Communication will save you so many headaches and drama. Communication in any friendship is important, just like it's important to anything you will do in life. Having good communication will ensure that you have healthy friendships.
Lastly, be trustworthy. Trust is a very special thing that is normally freely given. For most people, when you break that trust, that's it, you'll have to jump through hoops and beg and cry to get it back. Stay trustworthy, never compromise your friendships and burn bridges by not being trustworthy. it's not worth it.
I hope these few things have and will help you keep those lasting friendships forever! Have a great semester and kick butt!
