As the new school year is in full swing it is important that we balance our social lives with our academics. For incoming freshmen, transfers and even returning students, it can be difficult to build new friendships with other students. For some it can still be an adjustment to the bizarre two years that we’ve had after dealing with COVID. Here are a couple of tips that can help you find some of your friends for life here on campus.
- Befriend your roommate/suitemates & get familiar with fellow students on your floor
For those of you living in the dorms, you can easily make friends with your roommate(s) or suitemate(s). These are the people that you will be seeing almost every single day for a couple of months so why not attempt to build relationships with them. It’ll be so nice to come home from a long day of classes and activities and see a friendly face. Another way to make friends in the dorms is to talk to other people that live on your floor. You may not run into them as often as your own roommate(s)/suitemate(s), but it is nice to be familiar with other people that are experiencing a similar living situation like yourself.
- Join a club or organization
Joining clubs and organizations are one of the best forms of branching out and building relationships because chances are you will most likely find a group of people that share similar interests and traits as yourself. The lists of clubs and organizations are endless on campus. There are clubs that are offered through SGA (https://cortland.campuslabs.com/engage/ ) Sports Clubs (https://www2.cortland.edu/offices/recreational-sports/sport-clubs/sport-club-information) and last but certainly not least, Sororities and Fraternities (https://www2.cortland.edu/offices/campus-activities/fraternities-and-sororities.dot) You are more than likely to find a group of people that share similar interests like yourself and before you know it you’ll have your set group of friends you can count on for anything.
- Introduce yourself to other classmates
One of the most beneficial places to make a friend on campus is in your classes. By talking to others in your classes you can keep in contact and help one another when there is an assignment due or an upcoming exam. You’ll also always have a partner when your professor pairs you off into groups. Befriending a classmate can be very beneficial for when you miss a class. They can always relay the information you may have missed and won’t fall behind in the course. Depending on the class, you’ll most likely find other students that are in the same major as yourself. Typically when you share a major with a classmate, chances are they’ll probably be in other classes with you. Even if your classmates don’t share the same major as yourself, it is always nice to branch out and meet others that are studying different material compared to yours.
- Be yourself & be kind to one another
My final tip to you all is to be yourself and be kind to one another. Never pretend to be someone that you are not to make friends. Let others respect you and appreciate you for the wonderful person that you are. Treat others the way you would want to be treated. Never exclude any one because of how they look on the outside; in other words don’t judge a book by its cover. We are all college students here going through similar situations so I promise you, you are never alone.
As cliche as it may sound, so many college students have said that they are still best friends with the friends they made in college to this very day. I hope these few tips can help you find your best friends for life here on campus. Before you know it, you’ll be wondering what your life was like before ever meeting them.