Video Games And Mobile Games
There are tons of people playing video and mobile games, so you could meet thousands of people from all over the world just by playing. And what is better than making friends while enjoying a new hobby?
One thing to consider is that you dont want to become dependent on video games. Computer and mobile games are quite addicting and can get out of hand if not controlled.
It’s Possible You’ll Find Everything Easier Than You Thought It Would Be
Many people are understandably worried about whether they’ll be able to make friends in college. If they’re currently shy or awkward they have even more reason to fret about it. Sometimes people are anxious beforehand, but once they arrive for that first week of school they find everything just seems to work out. They still feel shy and out of their element, but at the same time, they meet people and form a social circle much more easily than they would have expected.
What I think happens in these situations is that even though they see themselves as inhibited or clumsy, they have more social skills and positive traits than they realize or give themselves credit for. Once they’re in the new, easy-to-meet-people university environment those hidden strengths are able to show themselves.
This point isn’t to falsely get anyone’s hopes up. I also realize that many people come to college and continue to struggle socially, and need additional help. However, I just wanted to mention the possibility that you may worry about college a lot beforehand, but find things aren’t so hard once you get there.
Know That It Only Takes One Friend To Break The Drought
It only takes one friend for you to emotionally and mentally relax and know youre going to be OK. One friend takes the edge off the loneliness and keeps the twinge of desperation away. Oh, and remember, most people coming to college are having the same struggle finding and forming their friend groups. It will happen.
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How To Meet People In College
You might wonder: How long does it take to make friends in college? The answer depends on you and your willingness to seek out opportunities to meet and interact with people.
My advice for students is to join programs and clubs and socialize right away to try to make friends.â â Basma from Egypt, University of the Pacific
Attending events and getting involved in campus groups or clubs will help you find potential friends, have fun, and discover new interests and communities.
You can also meet potential friends by just talking to people in your classes. Strike up a conversation and remember to smile. When you seem open and interested in meeting people, they will be happy to meet you.
I played basketball in China for the past 10 years and wanted to continue here as itâs my favorite sport. Last year, I played on the intramural basketball team. We made it to the quarter finals! I also made a lot of friends by joining the team.â â Isaac from China, Florida International University
Connect With Fellow Travelers At The Airport Or Train Station
If you are spending time at the airport or train station anyway, challenge yourself a bit by greeting some of the people around you. See how many conversations you can get started and how long you can keep them going.
Encourage your fellow travelers to talk about themselves and their travel plans. Chances are good at least one of them would appreciate a sympathetic ear.
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Icipate Actively In Your Online Class Discussion Forums
Most colleges have an online discussion board, and usually, its divided by class or course. By being an active member there, you make sure your classmates will remember you. This will help you to take the next steps later on.
Make an effort to engage with your classmates on the discussion board. Try to help out when you can and post supportive comments. If theres a forum thread where you can introduce yourself, include a link to your social media profile and invite anyone to add you. You might be surprised by how many people will do so.
Know Its Always Scary
Sorry, theres just no way around it. Meeting new people wouldnt be any less scary if you were on a campus. The only difference is on a campus, its harder to hide. As an online student, theres nothing pushing you to step outside of your comfort zone. You have to choose to do it.
While you cant make social anxiety retreat entirely, you can at least make it tolerable by lowering your own expectations of yourself. Dont go into a brand-new group planning to meet everyone. Just meet one person. And dont worry about being BFFs by the time you leave either. Just have a conversation.
It will be uncomfortable. It will be awkward. You may not know what to talk about at first, and you may come away feeling like a fool. But the only way to get better at something is to be willing to be bad at it first. So let yourself be bad at it. Get some practice. Eventually, itll become a little less scary.
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Some Words Of Caution
Pick your college friends wisely. You don’t want to start hanging around with a group of people who have different values than you do. You do not want to compromise who you are in order to fit in.
Finally, feeling lonely and homesick is a very real but normal part of college. If you are feeling lonely, it is important that you take action and get involved. Join a club, a sport, or a religious group. Attend campus-organized functions. Ask people to join you for coffee or to study together. Doing these things will keep loneliness at bay.
If you find yourself struggling with depression or anxiety, do not delay in reaching out for help. There is nothing to be ashamed of and with the proper mental health care, you will be able to cope and feel better in time.
Take An Online Course And Be An Active Participant
If the course has a channel on Discord or uses Slack for collaboration and peer-to-peer encouragement, use that. Connect with other students by asking questions or helping others out with theirs.
Do what you can to add value, and youll probably learn more from the course and enjoy it more than you would if you kept to yourself. No one succeeds alone.
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How To Start Dating In College
How to start dating in college should probably be an entire college course in itself. After all dating is a huge part of our lives, yet nobody really teaches us how to do it right. If youre a college student looking to have more success meeting and dating women, here are some tips that will help you learn how to start dating in college.
Keep an active social life
An important yet often overlooked tip for how to start dating in college is simply to keep an active social life. Continue meeting new people and try to make your social circle as wide as possible. The more friends you make the more opportunities youll have to be introduced to single, attractive women through mutual friends.
To keep an active social life make a point to get out there and join as many clubs, teams, or organization as you can fit into your schedule. Even extracurricular classes can be an excellent resource for making new friends.
Keeping things low-pressure
Create opportunities for meet-ups
If theres nothing interesting going on at your school then create a fun event you can bring women to whenever you want. Perhaps you can start up a weekly game night with your friends, or if you have access to a kitchen start a weekly pot-luck dinner. Having a regular get-together like this gives you something fun and low-pressure to invite women to.
Be inclusive
Meeting women
Getting the date
More Free dating advice
Blow up your phone with incoming text messages from women chasing you
Play The Numbers Game
You’re not going to make friends with, or even hit it off with, every person you meet when you first come to school. This doesn’t mean you’re an unlovable failure. It just means some people aren’t the best match for you. You don’t need to get every last person on the campus to like you. You just have to find a handful you get along with well.
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Move Virtual Communication To In
Meeting friends via social media likely feels like much less work. While social media may help you initially connect with people, maintaining and building on that connection is far more difficult if your communication stays virtual.
In the past, turning virtual connections into real relationships may not have seemed that important, but you learned while quarantined just how shallow virtual connections can be. You need real friendships and actual connections with people who genuinely care about you.
If you desire meaningful friendships and connection, work to move virtual friendships to in-person friendships. This may mean messaging another student in your dorm and asking them if they want to grab a meal with you. This may mean forming a study group with other freshmen in the same class.
Whatever you need to do to turn Instagram friends into actual friends, work to move to the next step. Exchange phone numbers, ask for an email address, make planstake that first step to build community in person.
Hang Around Campus In Between Lectures
In my course, we would often have long periods of free time in between lectures. Rather than going home between lectures, we spent a lot of time talking in the different cafés or just wandering around campus. Over a few days, I became friends with more people and they are some of the best people Ive met. After the initial nerves, it became easy to talk to them and Im so glad I made the effort.
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Say Yes To Most Invitations
Great job! All the work youve put in is paying off! An acquaintance is asking you to an event now. I know youre nearly exhausted from the effort, but whenever you can, say yes.
You dont have to commit to the whole night if its an evening out or more than an hour or two for an event. But if you say yes, more invitations will come your way. Say no too regularly, and you might not get a second invite.
If You Really Want To Get Some Practice With The University Experience Go Backpacking Beforehand
In the article on how traveling can help you improve your social skills I mention how the backpacker/hostel life is similar to being at university. That also goes for learning how to meet people and make friends with them quickly. I totally realize this option isn’t affordable or practical for everyone, but if it interests you, try traveling for a bit over the summer between high school and college. Or if you were planning to take a year off before starting university, see if you can at least visit some other countries for month or two.
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Go To Open Houses And/or Auctions
Warmer weather is also a great time for open houses and auctions. Even if youre not looking to move or acquire new things for your home, both events can provide opportunities to meet new people in your area.
Bidding for items at an auction makes you stand out to those interested in the same items.
And you can always let them win if they seem to want it more than you do.
Look For Places Where You Can Find Like
Join a campus club, group, or association where you share an interest with the other members. Its easier to talk when you can focus on something specific rather than just making conversation. The best time to join a club is at the beginning of the Fall semester. Campuses are much like musical chairs once September ends it seems like the music has stopped and everyone found their chair. Find three options that will keep you busy throughout the semester.
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Make Small Talk Even If You Might Not Always Feel Like It
Talking to new people can be hard. Sometimes you need to push yourself to interact. Many people dont see the purpose of small talk. They may feel like its shallow and superficial. But small talk is the start of all friendships: its a warm-up to an interesting conversation and a signal that youre open for interaction. If you dont talk, people will assume that you dont like them.
If youre in class, chat about the course, the assignments, or the professor. If you live off-campus, talk to your classmates, join clubs, or get a job on campus. Make sure that you spend lots of time interacting with people you want to become friends with. That allows close friendships to form.
Heres more on how to start conversations.
Cheer On Local Sports Teams
If youre a sports fan and want to cheer on your local sports teams, check out your local stadium and show up for games to show your support. Youre likely to meet other local sports fans and can strike up interesting conversations with them during breaks.
If someone in your family loves a particular sport, all the more reason to show up for their games. Or take them to the stadium so they can watch and learn from teams they might someday join.
In any case, the players and their families will appreciate your support. And that can be the start of new friendships.
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How To Make Friends In College Or University
I’ve already written a lot about making friends in articles like How To Make Friends And Get A Social Life and Places To Meet People. Even though some of the ideas in this article will repeat ideas from the ones above, I want to specifically talk about these concepts in terms of making friends in university.
The college environment really is one of the easiest places to make friends. You’re surrounded by thousands peers, most of whom are open to meeting people. Of course, that statement can seem like a slap in the face if you’re at university and struggling with your social life. It can make you feel like there’s something extra wrong with you for having trouble in such a supposedly easy situation.
Dont Go Home Every Weekend
The biggest mistake you can make is going back home every weekend after your last class on Friday. Don’t get me wrong, being homesick is a real thing and sometimes the best decision for your mental health is spending time with your family and friends back home. But if you continually skip town on the weekends, youll miss out on a lot of quintessential college experiences. You wont make a true connection with the Reno community, you wont know where the best Sunday brunch deals are and you wont be able to stay up late on a Saturday night with your new friends.
Being a college student is so much fun, but I know it can be intimidating and scary to leave everything you know behind. Remember, there are 22,000 other students on campus who also want to make a connection and I guarantee at least one of them is bound to be the Ned to your Moze, the Patrick to your SpongeBob, and the Wolf to your Pack
Schaller Desart is Regional Admissions and Recruitment Coordinator at the University of Nevada, Reno. She graduated from the University in 2019 with a B.A. in International Affairs and Spanish and a minor in information systems. She lives and works out of Sacramento, connecting with high school students as they navigate the admissions and financial aid process, including the Universitys Western Undergraduate Exchange Program.
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Connect With Classmates Online
After registration and in the early days of college, there will likely be a course group set up on social media, which are a great way to connect with the other students. I met one of my friends before class even started and we stuck together from orientation. If I didnt have her, I would have been anxious for those first days of college.
Join Your Local City Council
A great way to meet new people is to become more active in local politics and to speak up for causes you support. You can do this by joining your local city council and showing up for meetings.
Becoming more aware of the issues important to your community also helps you become more aware of your positions on each. Approach it with a commitment to learning more and hearing new perspectives.
The more you show up, the more familiar youll become with those equally committed to making improvements for the benefit of their community.
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Keys To Making New Friends
It’s easy to arrive at college and feel like you will never find a group of friends to pal around with. Fortunately, you are not alone. Everyone feels the same way. What’s more, it is natural to cycle through a couple of different friendship circles before you find people with whom you feel happy, comfortable, and safe. Here are some additional tips that will help the friend-making process go more smoothly.