When you go off to college most of the time you don’t know anyone when you get there. Maybe a few people from your highschool will go to the same college, but the majority of people will be strangers. Stepping out of your comfort zone and getting to know new people can be really hard for many students. Coming from highschool where everyone had their core group of friends, to a place where we know no one can be quite a shock. If you go to a Junior College then for many students, like myself, still live at home so they aren’t too concerned with making new friends. But for those people who either go to a 4-year or move to a different state for a JC then things can be difficult.
A lot of times students will try to make friends with people in their classes. This can be easy because you will see them every week for a whole semester. Sometimes though, there is no one in your classes that you’re really interested in being friends with. Either that, or you don’t know how to approach someone and start to talk with them. I have this problem a lot. I don’t want to make a fool of myself when I don’t know what to say, and no one likes an awkward silence.
One of my New Year’s Resolutions that I made with my best friend was to be more outgoing with people we don’t know, and not to be afraid to fail. Outside of school I have been doing very well with this. Although when it comes to the classroom I seem to freeze up. I can’t really explain why this happens, because I am not a shy person in the slightest. Maybe it’s because I still live at home and it’s not a life or death situation for me to make new friends. I can totally let loose when my best friend is with me though. Maybe it’s like a safety blanket kind of thing. Who knows. It should be interesting when I transfer to a university to see how or if I change.
Taking this communications class I thought would help me come out of my shell in the classroom a bit. (I think I was wrong.) Even though a lot of our grade was based on class participation, I found myself keeping comments to myself even when I had something to say. I guess I’ll have to keep working on it.
