On Making Friends in College

I am so excited to be finally sharing some college related content for y'all here on Chic in Carolina. I know that this time last year that I was searching my favorite bloggers' sites for advice for everything from sorority recruitment to decorating a dorm to just seeing what college is like. I have lots of ideas for posts to share to hopefully help y'all get ready for college (comment anything y'all want to see in particular or send me an email at chicincarolina@gmail.com) but I wanted to start with talking about friendships in college and how to make them.

In all honestly, making friends was one of the things I was most worried about going into my freshman year and I feel like that's a pretty normal fear for incoming freshman. I went to a tiny high school where my grade had 45 kids in it and honestly I knew 90% of them before entering high school as we all went to the same elementary/middle school. Even though my friend group changed a bit transitioning from middle school to high school, I knew the majority of my group and wasn't exactly starting over. I knew that Clemson was the school for me (you can read why I chose Clemson here) but was nervous as Clemson was so much larger than my high school and I didn't know a soul there. My high school friends all wound up going to different colleges, which was nice as we all had a fresh start but I was worried going to a new place without knowing anyone from home.

One of the best things I did fall semester was going through sorority recruitment (I'm planning on sharing a blog post with my tips soon!). I understand that Greek life is not for everyone but I have had such a positive experience with it. I had always wanted to be in a sorority and one of my family friends who was in a sorority in college told me that it's tough moving in for recruitment but the week is so busy that you don't have time to be homesick and then once Bid Day arrives, you'll feel settled. Obviously homesickness is normal but sorority recruitment gives you the opportunity to meet so many new people. I met one of my best friends in my Pi Chi group and you meet so many people from the active sorority members to the girls in your Pi Chi group to the girls who stand next to you in line waiting to go into parties. And of course, once you finish recruitment and if you choose to join a sorority, you get new sisters to welcome you in! I've been so lucky that I made so many genuine friendships in Theta and get to call these ladies not only my friends but my sisters!

Another way that I've made friends is through the girls who lived next to me in my freshman dorm. I lived in an all-girl dorm at Clemson and loved it. There was always something going on and I loved being around people all the time. Definitely keep your dorm room door open and say hi to the girls (or guys!) that will be living around you. It's so helpful to have people around you that you can turn to, whether if it's to borrow a vacuum or to have a movie night with!

As many of y'all know, I'm an Elementary Education major at Clemson, which I absolutely love! It's a smaller major (they have it closed to 50 students) so I know the majority of the people in my classes specific to my major, which makes Clemson feel a bit smaller. I remember the first or second week of classes, I didn't realize the homework for one of my classes was due online the day before so I was freaking out and had no idea who to ask about it. In high school, I could easily text a friend for help but realized I needed to make friends in my classes. Coincidentally, I ran into one of the girls in my class in the laundry room of our building so I could ask her and later exchanged phone numbers (her name still has math behind it in my contacts haha!). Being friendly to the people around me in class has given a great group of girls to not only study with but be friends with as well, which is so important!

One tip I have is to be friendly and to treat everyone as a potential friend. Don't be afraid to talk to people in the elevator in your building or the girl who sits next to you in class! Everyone is in the same boat in terms of wanting to make friends as it's hard for everyone.

One thing about college friendships is I feel they are so much deeper rather than surface level as you spend so much time with your college friends. In high school, you eat lunch together or hang out on the weekends but in college, your friends are in some sense all you have as your family is so far away so your friends become your family. College is a lot less cliquey too as it's ok to have friends that are in different friend groups or in different sororities or whatever. I'm so thankful to have found such genuine, sweet, funny, and inspiring friends at Clemson and don't worry about making your friends as you'll find your people!