By Kennedy Gilbert
One of the hallmarks of college is getting to meet all different types of people: People that you agree with or disagree with, people that you like or don’t like, people that are just there, and most importantly, people that are your people. Finding friends is a vital part of college. In fact, Cleveland University says that “Students who make an effort to form relationships in college are more likely to be academically successful and graduate on schedule,” which makes sense because not only do friends act as a support system, but they also act as a motivator.
But, the question is how do you get said “friends” in college? You have to work for it, harder than I feel people did back in the day. You have to really put forth the effort to say to yourself, “Okay, I’m really going to be on today, I’m going to smile more and talk more and do everything more.” It can be very difficult to do that, especially for introverts. It can be so hard to do that it almost drains all of the energy out of you. But none of that matters, at least not in the moment wherever you are. For me, being a fellow introvert, I call it my double personality. I have personalities for every situation. When it comes to making friends, it has its own personality.
Here are some of the observations that I have made on The University of Tampa campus. While I see many positives to the campus and the people, I do see areas that need improvement. Now, I am one individual, one student with one opinion. It isn’t right or wrong.
When it comes to class, it can be difficult to try and meet people because you have to listen to the professor and their lecture. However, I know for a fact that in almost every class there are little opportunities here and there to mingle with classmates. While some do this, most see it as time to take out their phone and watch TikTok or some other social media. This automatically limits interaction with others because it gives the impression that you don’t want to be bothered. Now, some students admit to doing this because they don’t want to approach others. That’s fine, but that is only feeding into the vicious cycle. Just to be clear, I am guilty of all of this too. However, I have tried really hard to change it! But you can only change if others change with you.
Let’s normalize not being afraid to ask questions. Everybody should feel that they are able to ask a question. And I’m not referring to students-to-professors but students-to-students. I’ve had many friendly encounters with random students asking about how to find a class, and I’ve also experienced some not-so-nice encounters. Not everybody is going to be your cup of tea, but when someone asks you a question or vice versa, bear in mind, it opens the door to a possible friendship.
Now, this one is a huge one. There are different areas all over campus for people to sit and rest, study, or chill. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked by those areas and seen people sitting all alone with no one to talk to, or if someone is sitting by them, they aren’t interacting. Usually, one of the people is on their phone. Again, it is the perfect time to strike up a conversation.
What’s even harder to digest is to realize and acknowledge the mental health problems among college students. It certainly doesn’t help matters. neaToday reports that “Specifically, 44 percent of students reported symptoms of depression; 37 percent said they experienced anxiety; and 15 percent said they were considering suicide—the highest rate in the 15-year history of the survey. More than 90,000 students across 133 U.S. campuses participated in the survey.” This was just from 2023. Knowing this should give other students a peace of mind that they aren’t alone, but for some reason, it doesn’t. If you’re anything like me, you think you are the only one who has a harder time with stress or anxiety, which just makes it 10 times harder to put yourself out there to meet new people.
The reality is every college student is human, and humans have all sorts of problems, no matter who they are. I do think it is important to evaluate every now and then how we want to be treated but also how we should be treating others. Having an open mind, heart, and soul is the key to finding the right friends. Although, I should change it to just friends.