Nervous About Making Friends In College? Foolproof Guide to Making Long-Lasting Friendships During First Year

Every first-year has felt it, the sinking, sickening feeling that you may never make friends. Here’s a secret: you are not alone. Every year, a new class of students come from all over the world to spend the next four years together. The possibility of knowing someone is slim to none, and the prospect of having to find new friends seems impossible.

Looking back at my four years at Whitman, I could not have imagined college without my friends that I met in my first year. They are still my best friends to this day! So the question is how can a first year, like you, meet your own amazing set of people? I’m giving you the ultimate guide to making long-lasting friendships at Whitman College.

• Networking is key!
  This may sound complicated, but chances are you already have some form of social media. On Whitman’s Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn are plenty of incoming students lurking in the followers section trying to connect with their new classmates! Take advantage of this to form new connections. Social media is a great tool, you get to exchange memes and learn more about one another—and at the very least you know one friendly face.
• Orientation! Orientation! Orientation!
  Look, there is no way of getting around how stressful orientation is. However, this is probably one of the best environments to make friends. In the midst of confusion and overall cluelessness, lies a sea of students who are all feeling the same way. It is not always easy to just walk up to random people but take advantage of the fact that once again, you are all in the same boat—you might as well meet some new people in the meanwhile!
• Roommates, for life
  Having a roommate is pivotal to experiencing college and making new friends. Chances are your roommate and you something in common. This is a good time to learn more about the world that you each come from and find commonalities. Besides, you will be living with them for the rest of the year, so even if you talk to no one else, at least you have your roommate. Plus, your roommate might know a person or two and you know a person or two. Put that together and you’re well on your way to building your community.
• Clubs
  The activities fair is not only the place to sign up for organizations that you will continue to be on listservs for the rest of your college career even though you ended up never going but somehow never got taken off the listserv, so you still get emails for mountain biking even though you never even owned a bike in college. It’s also a great segue into finding a community with like-minded, or similar interests. Clubs were truly where I found my community of support, empowerment and encouragement.
• They’re ALL around you!
  To this day, I still meet new people and develop new friendships. These are people in your section halls, in your first-year seminars, in the dining hall. Take the opportunity to get to know a couple of people and I promise you, the rest will fall into place. One of my favorite things about Whitman is how tight knit our community is. There is nothing wrong in stepping out of your comfort zone, finding new clubs, and experiencing new hobbies. And I’m willing to bet, in at least one of these endeavors, you’ll make long-lasting friendships.

Grace Fashanu is a recent Whitman grad from Houston, Texas. Her degree is in Economics.