Starting college is a huge milestone in a person’s life and it can be very frightening. Most of us venture to a university not so close to home which makes for a new experience like no other. As we unpack our cars and bring our belonging’s into our new “home,” we realize we are starting a new chapter in our lives. The four corners of your freshman dorm will soon become a place you can feel safe. As we say goodbye to our family and friends, we realize we are starting a new life in a sea full of strangers.
Watching your loved ones walking away will feel like you are losing your security, but dwelling in your fears won't help anything. So as your first days of college roll on, you will begin to meet people and make an abundant amount of friends, but that first friend will make everything better.
As I sat at our first floor meeting, I knew almost no one's names. I began to fill out a paper when I offered to share the table with the girl next to me. That's when I met my first college friend. She seemed pretty nice and I definitely wanted to get to know her, but I didn't want to be overly eager or embarrassing. I attempted to cross the room, but my foot had fallen asleep and my flip flop fell off and when she began laughing at me, I knew we would become best friends.
It was a little awkward to make an effort to start hanging out, but as freshmen, everyone is looking for friends. She lived two doors down and we began going to dinner and hanging out in our common room. We were both far from home, and we both missed our family and friends, which made it easy for us to understand one another. Having someone to relate to your fears, worries and doubts will make everything much easier.
When it's late at night and you desperately want to be with your friends back home, your first college friend will make everything better. They are your closest thing to the life you lived while in high school, and at times you will desperately be wanting that. At college a semester feels like two years, so you will get much closer to your friends at school much quicker.
You will want to make late night runs to Wawa and you clearly can't do that alone, so who's better than your new best friend? You will continue to meet new people, but that first friend is like family now. After a hard day at class, they are your relief and sanity. If you're lucky, your first college friend will become one of your best friends.
