I wish someone would’ve told me how terrifying it is to come to college and make new friends. Somehow, it never crossed my mind that when I came to college, separating from my best friends back home, that I would need to make new emotional connections and build a college support system. Of course, I knew I would need to make new friends, it just never crossed my mind I would have to make best friends. People who were going to have to learn who I was, explain why I don’t sit in chairs normally or share secrets only three people on this Earth knew. I didn’t know I was going to meet people in college and make friends with some of the most wonderful, coolest, kindest and funniest people I would ever meet. I didn’t know I was going to emotionally connect with people who would see me. I didn’t know how terrifying it would be to make friends.
College can be incredibly lonely. You’re surrounded by thousands of people, yet the people around you only know you on a surface level. Maybe they know you only by how you twist your pen in class, or how your voice sounds ten pitches higher when you speak in class. So when you start getting to others in college, it can be terrifying. Maybe you’ll meet people you click with immediately, or maybe you’ll meet people that take months before you get comfortable. Whichever it is, it can be scary.
Making friends requires several things, one of them is talking to people, which god forbid I have to do. However, it’s through so many conversations, silly or serious, that I’ve learned so much about the people. A friend of mine likes cheesecake crust (which I hate), another chugs monsters like water and the other has no spatial awareness so you could totally mug her without her noticing. They’re also the same people with whom I opened up about my anxiety, the same people I’ve bonded with over our relationship with religion and the same people who taught me what love feels like. Making friends is terrifying but it has also led to the most rewarding, heartwarming and comforting friendships. Without risk, there is no reward and these lifelong friendships I’ve formed with people at college may have cost me my vulnerability, but it has brought me the best relationship I could have ever asked for.
Making friends is scary, but it is something I will do over and over again because I’ve learned that making friends and connecting with people is the most exciting thing. Seeing people in three-dimensional forms, understanding all that they are because of their background and accepting and loving them for who they are fill me with so much joy. I love my friends, I’ve loved getting to know them and I can’t wait to see who they become. Making friends is scary, but you have to do it anyways; it is the best risk you’ll ever take.