My Tips on Making Friends:
1. Put your cellphone away.
I had to constantly remind myself to put mine up! It is the easiest thing to pull out when you are bored/uncomfortable. If you seem available to talk...people will talk to you.
2. Sit at big tables.
At my orientation, we all ate lunch at a specific dining hall. This was great way to meet people. My mom and I were tempted to sit at a small booth, but instead we sat at a big table so that hopefully other people would join us and we could get to know them and of course people came!
3. Sit in the middle of the aisle NOT on the aisle.
This is similar to Tip #2. I attended a lot of meetings in lecture halls with "movie theatre like seating" (for the lack of a better way to describe it haha). The idea is to have people sitting on both sides of you and hopefully you'll leave the session with a friend or two!
4. Smile!
If you have a perpetual frown on your face, you might seem unapproachable. Try and smile and you'll attract friendly faces to you.
5. Attend all the events
This may be a no brainer, but I really wanted to skip the student part (where we separated from our parents haha). All day it seemed like no one was approachable and I only talked to like three girls with my mom. I was discouraged and so nervous that not only would I not make friends at the student-only part BUT I'd be completely alone. So, I get to the student-only session and dinner and I met like 5 girls! We hung out the whole night, exchanged numbers, and followed each other on social media! I couldn't be more happier with how my orientation turned out. Bottom line:You want to give yourself every chance you have to meet people and make friends.
6. Be Friends with Everybody and Anybody
Its not high school anymore. You don't have to worry about crossing clique lines. I hated how high school was and I've always been accepting of any person who wanted to be my friend (because HELLO none of us are better than anyone else). A friend is a friend...it doesn't matter if y'all are different than each other. If you can carry on a fun conversation and they are kind....they are a friend!
My Tips in General:
7. Figure out stuff.
By "stuff", I mean see if you can tour your dorm room, figure out what's the best meal plan, the best library on campus, and where you'll park. It's better to figure this stuff out at orientation than during your first week. Also, if you have your semester schedule try test walking to your classes; this will help you know where the buildings are and how long it will take you to get from place to place.
8. Tour the town.
Know where the best place is to get a spray tan, groceries, dry cleaning, a good dinner, etc. You'll feel more confident in the new setting of college, if you know where to go.
9. Go buy your textbooks.
Once you have your schedule, you should have a list of required materials and textbooks for your classes. As many know, college textbooks are expensive and going the used book path is usually the thriftiest option. My university's bookstore sells the used books in store and online, BUT ONLY in store can you guarantee that you'll pick the "newest-looking" used book. You will have no idea if you order a used book (unless there are pictures) what condition it is in.
*Always check on Amazon or websites like SlugBooks for cheaper prices too! Sometimes the bookstore is the pricier option.
I hope this was able to help at least one person! It was probably boring to anyone who isn't an incoming college freshmen lol. If you are an incoming college freshman, you'll do great at orientation and meet plenty of nice, fun people :)
xoxo, Maddie
