It’s quickly approaching…the one-month mark on campus for us freshmen. The month has been filled with sprints to make those 8 a.m. classes, meals at The Pit with hall-mates, and most of all: a million new friends.
The first day I arrived on campus, I immediately exchanged numbers with every person I met within the first 20 minutes of conversation. We would walk to orientation activities together, share laughs about how boring orientation was and, in a slightly psychotic way, think to ourselves, “Maybe we’ll be BFFs!!!!”
Now that the orientation cloud has vanished and classes are in full swing, I have a cell phone full of random names and numbers and very little to say about these future BFFs. The only contacts that weathered through the orientation storm are basically my hall-mates (people who are forced to hang out with me because I live next door to them). And trust me, I force them to hang out with me a lot.
Now this is the part where I assure all of you collegiettes, I do have friends. I, however, find myself asking questions like these every day: I’m walking alone to class…do people really like me? What if I have to grab a salad in Benson ALONE today?
Eating alone has suddenly become a crisis. All of my life, drinking a coffee and sitting on a bench reading meant that you were confident and just craving some alone time (I really did think Rory Gilmore had it right). Here, as a freshman, any time left to myself makes me feel like I need to scan my hall aimlessly, pop in to doorways to find friends, or even text those random cell contacts.
For that reason, I find myself herding packs of fellow freshman girls everywhere with me. Whether it’s to the dining hall, the basement of a frat house, or even the communal bathroom – I am looking for buddies. It might seem insecure, but I’m just looking for people to spend my time with. Is that really too much to ask?
Photo from KeepCalmAndPosters.com.
All I’m saying is that we might get stared at a little bit when my entire hall travels to a Zumba class together or makes the hike to the North (New Pit) dining hall for dinner, but being alone in this new place is so intimidating. Until all of these contacts and acquaintances become my official BFFs, this is how it’s going to have to be.
And to my fellow freshman girls who travel with a pack of pals everywhere they go, too: take heart in the fact that nobody else wants to be alone either.