Lairen Brush
Brushing Out the Details
I would like to preface this by saying, I am not a social person. Especially not with making the first move or impression on a new person. This is not a matter of being introverted or extroverted, I just tend to watch people, before even attempting to talk to a specific person.
Granted, this could be seen as unintentionally creepy and I am fully aware of this. And I am fully aware that my people-watching could also be considered socially awkward, making it difficult to make new friends.
My now best friend was the only spur-of-the-moment decision I made to talk to someone and that interaction was weird to a certain degree. She had been pronouncing a name wrong and I, sitting against a wall and reading a book, decided it was a good idea to correct her while talking to another person. Our next interaction was purely based on a mutual friend. Then, as they say, the rest is history. Outside of her, I have a maximum of five people that I have a conversation with on any given day.
I don’t believe that I am the only college freshman with this issue. While the small size of Casper College may be my only basis for comparison, I do know that the struggles of talking to people in a large environment to the point of developing lasting, meaningful friendships is rare.
CC offers the advantage of a small campus size compared to the much larger University of Wyoming in the college town of Laramie, so running into the same people is a given. Also, the class sizes are smaller, which makes striking up a conversation easier. I strongly believe in the ability of humans to adapt to situations.
Taking the initiative is always a good idea, despite initial hesitance. The world at large is quite varied and presents so many opportunities to adapt to progress in life. I do hold strong to the belief that you just have to talk to people, as difficult and awkward as it may be at first.
I have only recently made a friend outside of my friends from class. The conversation only started because of the ice-breaker at the beginning of a class’ semester. The conversation would have ended there if I hadn’t shared a second class with them on the same day. Luckily, I did and they just happened to be sitting alone by the time I got there. I have added another person to my small list of five by midterms of this semester.
Outside of talking to people, there are other ways to add to your social circle. Sign up for extracurricular activities. Look into different clubs. Try new experiences. Just be present and try not to overthink it. Just interact with people. Force yourself to strike up conversations, even if it’s just for an assignment or about a mutual class. Be out there. Put yourself out there. College is intrinsically made to force you to interact with new people. ‘Finding yourself’ is just a small part of interacting on a college campus.
Casper College is filled with a wide variety of students who come from everywhere, so why just limit yourself to one or two people? Don’t be a sheep, following the people from high school. Meet fellow students and develop friendships for this new and different stage of life that will make your college experience more gratifying and enjoyable. We are all here for educational purposes, so let’s educate each other about ourselves too.
