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10 Tips for Making Friends your First Semester of College

New classes, new roommate, living away from home for the first time, and new, adult responsibilities, these are all challenges faced by many college students. Another difficult task facing college students is developing a new social life and circle of friends. Making friends during the first semester of college is so important. As a student you’ll need the companionship and social opportunities that a good circle of friends provides. Unfortunately, making friends isn’t always easy. Things such as shyness and a busy schedule can make it difficult to make connections with others. If you would like to make new friends during your inaugural semester, here are 10 tips that might just help.

Join a Club or Organization

Try to find at least one club or organization to join. Not only will you meet new people, you’ll meet new people with a similar passion or interest. However, in order to maximize your friend making opportunities, you can’t simply attend the meetings and events. You’ll need to get involved. Volunteer to be involved on committees and in planning events. At the very least, make an effort to join the group every so often for a post meeting hang out.

Make your Dorm Room Inviting

Keep your door propped open we you are home during the day. This way you can say hi to people coming and going, and they can say hi to you as well. This will help you establish those very important initial connections. Then, make sure you have an extra chair or two for impromptu visitors. If you establish your dorm as the unofficial hangout of your residence hall floor, you’ll have no shortage of friends.

Attend all the Freshman Events

Chances are your college and residence hall staff will hold a ton of welcome to school events during the first few weeks of school. Some of them are quite cheesy, but they really are a great way to get to know other students.

Serve a Meal

College students are always hungry, and they miss food that doesn’t come from sticky-floored, fast food restaurants or the dining hall. Cooking a meal and inviting the folks in your dorm to join you for a meal is the perfect way to create a friend making opportunity. Don’t cook? Don’t worry. Pick up some soup from the deli counter at the grocery store and a few baguettes. Heat the soup in the crock pot and call it a meal.

Find the Local College Hangouts

Nearly every college town has at least a few hang out spots for students. Usually this is a pub or night club. Don’t worry if you aren’t a drinker, you can still dance, listen to music, and enjoy the company of other students.

Take Part in the Unofficial Student Events

Don’t limit your participation in extracurricular activities to officially school sanctioned events. Some of the most enjoyable activities are dreamt up and pulled off by students without the intervention of school staff. These might include kickball tournaments, dorm wide Xbox Live tournaments, chess matches, battle of the bands, or movie nights.

Take the Time to Socialize

Some students have a hard time making friends simply because they don’t take the time to socialize. It becomes habit to go to school, go to work, and then go home to sleep. Don’t fall into this pattern. Force yourself to be socially active a few hours each week.

Connect with Other Students on Social Media

If there is a Facebook group for your dormitory or graduating class, by all means join it. Sometimes it can be easier to connect to people on social media and communicate in writing before interacting in person. If it is easier for you to make connections this way, by all means take advantage of this opportunity.

Don’t Pressure Yourself

It might make you a month or so to truly warm up to college life and to find a social group. There’s nothing wrong with this. Be patient and don’t try to force yourself into friendships that are unhealthy or that aren’t reciprocal.

Help Others

People really do remember small acts of kindness. So, hold doors, help people who are carrying large objects into their dorm rooms, or simply act as a source of advice. For example, if a fellow student is having trouble with an assignment and asks, ‘who will write my essay for me?’, point them in the direction of evoessay.com.