Making new friends in college

By Shawn Owens

Have you ever had trouble making friends in a new setting?

Let me tell you a little story about a boy who in the middle of his 10th grade year of high school was forced to move from the town he had lived in since 1st grade, to a place that was completely unfamiliar. When we are young we might feel as though change is unbearable. Especially in high school we think that those four years are meant to mold us and shape us into those adults ready to take on the world, yet we often forget to remember that change is inevitable. Switching high schools in the middle of this period of my life where I wanted things to stay the same prepared me for the college experience. We rarely get the opportunity to go to the same universities as our friends, and if you do then you’re a very lucky person. For most, going to college ushers in that fresh start of truly discovering who you are and finding your people.

It is not the easiest thing to put yourself out there, but here’s one thing to remember. You are not the only person feeling this same exact way in this whole new world that you’ve found yourself in.

Keeping this in mind will allow you to have more confidence in approaching situations that will allow you to make new friends. My first year at the University of Houston, I found myself completely flustered trying to navigate around campus.

I did not know what to do, and I could not find this building for the life of me. So I decided to look for a friendly face, and I found someone that surprisingly enough was on their way to the same place. We ended up becoming really good friends throughout the semester, and this situation taught me so much about how to approach meeting new people.

You have to remember to allow yourself to be free, and what I mean by that is to throw away all of the apprehension about putting yourself out there. I have made life-long friends in the most random ways. So release yourself to the randomness that comes with college life and meeting new people.

College is filled with groups and organizations that you probably already know about. If you don’t, the University of Houston makes it so accessible for you to find all of the organizations and learn how to join them on the Get Involved platform. Student groups and organizations allowed me to find so many friends with the same interests as me. We bond over our shared love of writing, the arts, music and so much more. Joining Cooglife Magazine has amplified my voice and has allowed me to express myself in ways that I had never had the opportunity to do before.

These experiences have allowed me to flourish and grow my confidence in ways that I had never imagined. I used to be more reclusive, but I now know that college is not only a place to receive a higher education, it is also about the experience.

Being a freshman coming into college is almost like a blank canvas. This is where I found the confidence to be the most full version of myself. You can reinvent yourself in this new arena. Approach this new chapter knowing that you are not alone, no matter how alone you might feel especially if you’re away from home. There are thousands of other students in the same boat as you, which creates a sense of community. All you have to do is release yourself and open up to this new experience.