Making new friends

Coming into Purdue I was very scared about making new friends. I have had the same firends since gradeschool and it was very hard for me to leave all of them. I went to a huge higschool of 3500 or more and all my friends went to IU or other schools. I knew that Purdue was for me because I got right into the nursing program so I really wanted to give it a chance. The first day after my parents left I felt very lonely, I remember sitting in the chair by my computer thinking wow I really should have gone to IU with all my firends. Meanwhile I looked across the hall to see two girls putting their futon together so I decided to go talk to them. They ended up being really cool and today they are some of my best friends. I think college is all about taking chances. You really have to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. I also starting leaving my door open so anyone could just walk in, just from doing that I pretty much know everybody on my floor. Another thing I started doing was talking to the people sitting next to me in classes. When you have lecture halls of 400 or more its hard to find people you know. But everyday I just started talking to whoever I was sitting next to and now I find myself knowing a lot of people in my classes.

Another way of making new friends is finding people to go eat with. Since everyone living in a dorm pretty much has a meal plan it's easy to find someone to eat with. By doing this you are forming friendships and getting to know all kinds of new people.

You could also try joining a club or a intermural sport. I joined the equestrian team and just from doing that I have met lots of cool girls. Purdue pretty much has every kind of group you could ever want to join you just have to find it. Soroities and fraterities are also a great way to meet new people. Just by going through the recructment process you meet so many different kinds of people. And if you decide to join one you will meet people that have a lot of the same interests as you. I realize that sororities and fraterities are not for everyone, but I encourage you to at least see what it's like, who knows you may surprise yourself and love it. If you decide they are not for you there are still many opportunities to make friends.

The difficulty of making new friends is all the studying that you have to do. I personally feel overwhelmed because I have to take a lot of science courses like biology and chemistry. It's completely different than highschool because you aren't pressured by your teachers to succeed. You have to be self motivated to complete your assignments and to study for important exams. By building a framework of friends you will find people in your same classes and be able to study, learn , and succeed together.