The year 2021 brought everyone a lot of stress and uncertainty but having a good support system and social circle is what helped most people get through it. Just think, how many times did you message your friends when you were bored because you couldn’t go to see them? I know when I was in quarantine my friends helped me through the boredom and classes I was missing. However, friends also are unpredictable. Since so many ‘friends’ showed their true colors over the last few months, I decided to expand my social circle for 2022. This one decision has made such an impact on my life and here is why I believe you should reach out and expand your social circle, too!
So many articles and therapists say that having friends benefits your health, and they are right! There is no better feeling than sitting down and venting with a good friend to get things off your chest. Filling your social circle with strong and supportive friends allows you to gain perspectives on a situation or just going to that one friend who will just listen while you let it all out. I recently started talking to another girl in my classes because we are working together on a project. We spoke last semester and she seemed very friendly, but I was hesitating to branch out. Once we met to work on the project for this semester, she started talking to me more and I found us having a deep and meaningful conversation about relationships. She was delivering enlightening advice that will stick with me forever. If I never reached out last semester to work with her, we would have never spoken outside of group discussions in class.
Have you ever wanted to do something, but haven’t had the courage yourself? I recently had a situation like this myself. I wanted to make my boyfriend something meaningful yet bold at the same time. I knew that most of my friends wouldn’t be willing to help me with the project, but I had one of my friends in mind. As soon as I asked her, she enthusiastically agreed. Now this is one small example, but there are so many other goals that a friend can help you achieve. In my class the other day, the teacher invited past students to speak about their experiences. The one girl spoke of how she casually mentioned an idea of traveling and teaching abroad to her best friend one day. The next month, the two of them were signed up to teach abroad for a year. While they were speaking about the experience, they didn’t have a single regret. If these girls never met in class, then they would never have gone on the experience together since the one girl admitted to being too shy to go alone.
I am a twenty-year-old college student. I am taking graduate classes, observing in classroom settings as another professional teacher in the classroom. I am maintaining my grades as well as studying, working on projects, and working off-campus. However, I also have a collection of 33 rubber ducks hidden throughout my dorm room. My roommates and I started the tradition of purchasing a rubber duck from the claw machine at the mall whenever we visit. This tradition was started fall of 2020 and has continued through two roommates leaving and moving to a new dorm for the new school year. At first, the ducks just lived in the shower as a joke. Now, they are in the kitchen, the bathrooms, and the living room. Having a friend to express your inner child with makes the day so much better. Collecting something as silly and childish as rubber ducks may seem small, but it brings joy to the two of us every day. If I didn’t reach out to the quiet girl sitting next to me freshmen year, we wouldn’t be where we are today. And who dictates when you are too old to have fun and act childish occasionally? Who knows, but your new friends are sure to have a couped up inner child they want to let out, too!
There are numerous benefits to expanding your friend group. Expanding your friend group will not only improve your health, but it will help you achieve your goals and release your inner child as well!