Something that has struck me since moving across the country to go to college all on my own, is the amount of loneliness I have felt. It makes sense. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why I am lonely. I have no family here. I often do not know what people are talking about because the areas around here are so unknown to me. It forces me into being an outsider.
Then comes my natural awkwardness and seeming inability to make friends. That does not help matters. I have tried joining clubs and being more outgoing, but have realized that loneliness is just one facet of college life for me, like dining hall meals and 8:30 am classes. It was an inevitability.
That does not mean that I like it, far from it. But I have come to accept it and run with it, as it were. Yes, I spend most of my time alone, in my room, listening to podcasts, but honestly that gives me more time to work on school work. It gets tough, but it can’t hurt me unless I let it.
It helps knowing I am not the only one who feels like this. I do not have a monopoly on loneliness. I share it, which in a way, makes me feel less lonely all together.