Entering college, I was one of only two people from my graduating class to attend Florida State University. After all, as an out-of-state student coming from the Midwest, not as many of my classmates had the same idea as me to travel across the country for college. While I was excited for a fresh start in this new chapter of my life, it also seemed daunting to move without knowing anybody else. I’m not the most outgoing or extroverted person, so I was worried about how I would make new friends and find a roommate. Funny enough, I was unaware that the first two people I would meet months before coming to campus would end up being my best friend and my boyfriend.
A common resource at many universities are Instagram and Facebook pages for the newly-admitted incoming class. These pages allow you to curate a post that introduces yourself with contact information in order to get familiar with others in your shoes. They’re a great way for students to connect before coming to campus, and oftentimes are an approach students take to find their college roommates. So, I joined the “FSU 2026” Instagram page.
If you had told me at the time that two years later I would be best friends with the girl who direct-messaged (DM’d) me after seeing that intro post, I would probably be shocked. I’d be even more surprised to know that the cute boy who added me on Snapchat became my boyfriend. Yup, you heard me right. I met my boyfriend on my FSU class Instagram account! We always share a silly side eye and laugh whenever people ask us how we met. Don’t worry, we didn’t rush things; we took until the spring semester to officially begin dating. But now, we’ve been together for over a year and always enjoy thinking back on our past conversations and FaceTimes that occurred before high school graduation!
The FSU 2026 Instagram page also brought me my best friend and freshman-year roommate. I always felt very lucky that whenever I saw freshman year roommate horror stories online, I couldn’t relate to those experiences. I knew that opting for a random roommate wouldn’t be a good fit for me because of my fear of anonymity. Although I didn’t meet my roommate in person until dorm move-in, I had peace of mind leading up to that knowing that we had shared multiple FaceTime sessions and were pretty compatible.
My roommate DM’d me after seeing my post on the FSU 2026 page, having noticed I was a cheerleader. With that similarity between us, she thought we had the potential to get along. After bonding through several forms of social media and knowing we were both looking for a roommate, we decided to sign together. My mom was excited after our parents exchanged contact information with one another, which made her feel more comfortable with my roommate as well! Living with another person, especially in a small dorm, can be difficult, but my freshman-year roommate quickly became my best friend with all the time we spent together. I’m extremely grateful for the bond that formed after this once-stranger reached out to me.
Apart from these two people that I spend time daily with, I also met a lot of other people on this Instagram page. Whether it was others reaching out to me or vice versa, I had conversations with a lot of new students just like me. When I arrived at freshman orientation before starting the year, I was pleased to see two familiar faces in my group alone that I had talked to online. From here, these girls introduced me to more of their friends, which helped me feel much more confident as my Tallahassee move-in neared. Now, two years into college, I still run into people whom I formed relationships with online from before I started school.
If you’re an incoming freshman starting college, consider utilizing the social media resources and putting yourself out there! While it may seem silly to “slide into kids’ DMs,” you never know who you might meet. I got super lucky that two of the very first people I met before even stepping foot on campus turned out to be very important parts of my college life!
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