College is a romanticized time of parties, self-discovery, and new friends. In contrast to school, the people you meet in college choose to be there just like you. This makes finding interesting people that like the same things you do easy. This is one of the reasons friends we make in college stay with us for a lifetime. But how do you make sure that you find the right people and then keep them for years? Here are a few tips that can help you!
Keep Your Eyes Peeled
Where do you find new friends? That’s where our first advice comes in handy – be open to new contacts. You might think that sounds easier than it actually is. But college is the ideal place to find like-minded people – you see them every day in your classes. All you need to do is gather the courage and talk to them.
Finding common ground with people in your course is easy since you’re struggling with the same professors. You can ask for notes, wonder if they know someone who would research paper writing service, or offer help. Students that sit beside you in a class will be there next week and the one after that, so you have plenty of time to connect.
Get Out More
How to meet people outside your class? The logical answer is you need to get out and mingle. Parties are the best way to do this. But if you’re not a fan of parties, you can meet a lot of new people if you get a part-time job or join clubs. In all honesty, it’ll be a good decision even if you’re frequent at parties.
Find Common Ground
How to befriend a person you met on a neutral ground? Find common ground! It might seem repetitive and too obvious, but it doesn’t make it a lie. You connect to a person when you find something in common, so the first step will always be talking to them and getting to know what interests both of you have.
Connect Through the Struggles
A good way to unite is to find a common enemy. Do you hate a professor? They also have one. Are you mad that your favorite sports team lost? What sports interest them? How did their team do? There are a million ways you can find similarities between you two, so try! They say that happiness brings people together. Well, discontent does the same or an even better job.
Find Your Differences
No matter how pleasant it is to find a person that likes everything you do, it gets boring to talk to yourself all the time. You can learn so much more from a person that has different interests. You can learn from them and teach them everything you know. Of course, if your outlooks are completely contrary, there might be too much arguing, so look for something in the middle.
Try What They Like
So you’ve met your opposite; how do things develop now? The most obvious answer is that you continue getting to know them and try what they like. There’s not much to this. The main advice we can give you is to stay open-minded and be ready for adventures. It’s always interesting to try something new. There’s a chance it will become your thing.
Open Yourself Up
There’s been a lot of talk about doing and not much about feeling. Friends are the family we choose for ourselves, so we need to choose carefully. After all, you’ll be talking about how you feel just as much (if not more) as what you like.
A secret to strong relationships is being honest and understanding. Without these elements, there’s no way you can be open with each other. But someone needs to be the first to do it. It might as well be you. It’s a vulnerable position to be the first to talk about all things personal, but when the prize is strong and stable relationships – it’s worth it.
Talk It Out
What happens if you argue? The worst thing to do is keep the resentment to yourself and slowly start hating your friend. This is no way to really keep your friends close. The “grown-up” thing to do will be to talk it out. This is a useful thing to do in any kind of relationship. If you have something bothering you, share it with your friend and discuss whatever it is you found hurtful.
Most of these situations happen because we keep the hurt to ourselves. To begin dealing with this kind of situation, you need to pause and think if the situation is as severe as you first thought. Consider speaking up right away when something is bothering you, not letting it worsen over time. If you’re having a hard time now, share with your friend. Even saying out loud whatever is bothering you will prove useful in the long run.
Be Supportive
The last, most basic, and most important piece of advice to keep friends is to be supportive. This is one of the most underrated and forgotten aspects of friendships. It’s also the one that we tend to appreciate the most.
If we dig deep into childhood, support is the thing kids miss out on the most. With this being the most widespread childhood trauma, it’s no surprise people look for it in friends. This kind of unconditional support isn’t that common, so you need to nurture and save the friendship that provides it for you.
All in all, it’s easy to say that college is the place to find new friendships that will last you all your life. But all relationships are hard work, and the ones you get in college are not an exception. So, this is the sign for you to start opening up and working on your relationships because the outcome is simply too precious to go all your life without!
Michael C Vang is a passionate blogger. He has been blogging since 2013 on a variety of topics. He is committed to creating informative and engaging content that helps readers learn more about everything.
