As a young child occupied with school, Girl Scouts, dance, and baseball I never found it difficult to meet new kids and make new friends. Wherever I went there was always another child eager to find a new playmate. I have realized as I have grown older it has become much more difficult to make friends, and keep them.
Where did all the friendships go? As we get older we travel into unchartered waters where unfortunately some friends are never to be seen again. As we begin to lose these friends who we once thought we would be “friends forever” with, we begin to wonder what is happening, or at least I do. All of those forever friends are gone, the apparent expiration date on “friends forever” lasting roughly two years.
I have found that keeping friends into my 20’s has become more difficult than a semester of straight A’s. We often blame our lack of communication with friends on busy schedules. So after what is now a couple of texts back and forth rather than phone calls and maybe some Facebook messages, our friendships have turned into a once a year Happy Birthday on Facebook or a let’s get together comment where getting together never even happens.
If keeping in touch with friends is a semester of straight A’s hard, making new friends is a college career of straight A’s difficult. Between work, school, boyfriends, family, and whatever else life throws at us, where is there time to meet new people? And then go through the process of developing a new friends forever relationship with them?
Three Tips to Making and Keeping Friends:
1. Why are friends so important?
I suppose you could say we do not need friends, but then that would be like saying we do not need a roof over our heads. Friends are the people we call to meet at happy hour after a long day at school or work to vent with. Also, friendships are the most valuable commodity we have in our 20’s.
2. Get Involved!
Get involved in something, anything! With recruitment right around the corner, rush! Read what activities are happening during Welcome Week and look into joining a club or being a part of a sports team. Set aside from school, there are opportunities within churches and volunteer organizations where you could meet new people as well.
3. Actually pick up the phone!
It has become a natural instinct for our society to send a text a rather than make an actual phone call. Next time you go to send a text rather than make a phone call, think to yourself that an actual conversation with a friend does more to spark your creativity and enthusiasm than consuming five red bulls.