The thought of making new friends used to terrify me. In high school I had my niche group of friends that I clicked so well with. We were in the same extra-curriculars, lived near each other, liked the same foods, and most importantly: loved the same memes. The only problem was that absolutely ZERO of these amazing people were going to the same university that I was! Of course, this caused me to go into outright panic mode. Thousands upon thousands of worst case scenarios ran through my mind the summer before my freshman year, and I have got to say I was incredibly hard on myself. I was so convinced I would go all four-ish years ABSOLUTELY ALONE. This was an anxious manifestation, but at the time, it seemed so real! I attempted connecting with some people from my hometown who were coming to A&M, and although they are amazing people, we just didn’t have that instant click I had with my high school friends. During this time I turned to the only foolproof solution I had: my faith. I know not all of my readers are Christian, but for me, I turned to God for help because my faith shapes my life. I prayed for God to place me with friends that He knew would be right for me. Through this, I was able to relieve some of my anxiety, and what happened next, I know only came from God.
I spend a lot of time on Twitter, if any of you have read my past articles you know that I find my account to be pretty funny. I had noticed a girl retweeted onto my timeline a few times named Nadia, and I noticed she seemed to be pretty involved with TAMU 2021 in some group messages. I branched out and followed her, but I was too afraid to actually reach out and say something like “hI PLEASE BE MY FRIEND I AM VERY LONELY!!!” Little did I know she was going to be the one to shoot her friendship shot.
What started with “oh my god you like the same music i like (judging by your following) be my friend” turned into a summer long conversation about bands, television shows, our majors, and everything in between. That simple DM has given me my newest concert buddy, confidant, shoulder to cry on, person to scream about nonsense with, and future roommate. The friend I had been praying for showed up right in my DMs!
I know it might be scary (I was terrified y’all), but no matter if you’re a freshman or a senior I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and meet someone new! Walk up to that girl in Evans with the cool laptop stickers, DM the funny person on Twitter, grab coffee with that stylish guy from your lectures! College is such a wonderful season of life where social boundaries are wonderfully skewed. There’s no more high school cliques to deal with, you can find friends from all walks of life. Through Nadia I’ve met so many other friends who all vary from my hometown friends, but figuring out quasi-adulthood with them will be something I forever cherish. “Shooting shots” is so popular in meme culture right now, and while some of them have brought romantic relationships I personally feel shooting friendship shots can be a much more beneficial and resilient.
Go out and shoot your friendship shots. Who knows? That person could’ve been waiting for you all along.