Let's be Friends

Especially when you are going to college out of state, like me, you will worry about making new friends. In my case, I actually ended up coming to RIT with one of my best friends since elementary school and my boyfriend of two years. Now I know this doesn’t sound very realistic, but I believe fate brought us here together. We even somehow managed to be in the same building, and on the same floor! Now if it wasn’t meant to be, do you think that would have happened? Anyway, my point is that even though I came here with two people I already knew, it doesn’t mean making friends didn’t still worry me.

Thankfully, RIT held both an Honors and a regular orientation process for incoming freshmen before the beginning of the school year. My best friend, boyfriend, and I all participated in the Honors orientation together. The Honors orientation started a few days before the rest of the students were to arrive, so we had time to move in and start making friends with other Honors freshmen. It seemed as though everyone was very desperate to quickly make friends and feel accepted.

One day my boyfriend’s roommates, my best friend, her roommate, and I played card games in their room. The RA stopped by and introduced us to another boy on our floor and we invited him to play. The main thing is that we were very accepting, and we had fun. Another instance was when I was invited to come over to the (male) triple down the hall. I remember I brought my best friend and her roommate along to find other girls on the floor to come with us.I ended up making a few new friends from that experience, and by the time we got to the triple, we more than outnumbered the guys.

For the regular orientation, we were all split up according to our major/college within RIT. Here I tried my best to talk to new people, who were slightly worse off than me because no one knew anyone else, and hadn’t been in the Honors orientation either. Slowly, I started talking to the same people in my group everyday at the orientation meetings. The people I socialized with lived in the building right next to me, but in order to see them I would need someone to swipe their card at the door. So at the end of orientation week they invited me over and we played card games and talked. They were all really nice, though obviously reserved from what I now know about them, because we all wanted to make friends. From that experience, I made a few more friends, and now we are all very comfortable around each other.

As the month went on, you could slowly notice all the freshmen finding their place within the college community. Groups formed, friends introduced friends to new friends, and many ultimately formed long-lasting friendships. Slowly but surely, you’ll get facebook friend requests and phone numbers to see if you can get lunch or hang out together after class.

Now that I think of it, I kind of miss those first weeks at RIT. You come from far away and get to be whoever you want to be and no one knows anything about you. You can change your values, and you’re hopeful that others find you to be a good person. I know we have all heard the saying to “just be yourself,” and you will fit in and find friends. Even though I was given this golden opportunity to be someone else, I didn’t try to be, I was just myself. Although I am very happy with whom I am now, I still wonder what would have happened if I had decided to change my morals and attitude altogether…

I think you never really stop making friends at college. RA’s peer mentors, and orientation mentors assist in this process. Plus, there is no way to get to know thousands of students all in a short period of time. Whether in class, walking, eating, or at parties, you will see both familiar and unfamiliar faces. When you really get to know someone, you can decide whether you want to still be friends with them or move on. Don’t submit to peer pressure just to fit in. There is always someone who will accept you, no matter how different or weird you think you are. Be friendly and kind, slowly open up and try to get to know others, and find someone with similar likes/dislikes, and I guarantee you will be successful in your friend-making endeavors. =]

Check out these funny friendship quotes http://www.the-friendship-cafe.com/Funny-Friendship-Quotes.html

Roommates

One of the most exciting times for a college-bound student is finding out their roommate. You wait all summer long for the day you find out whom you will live with for the school year. When I found out my roommate, I had mixed feelings. Of course, these feelings were not generated simply by checking my roommate’s name and drawing a conclusion about her. Like many roommates-to-be, we added each other on Facebook. After I Facebook-stalked her page, I was able to make a few assumptions. On one hand, she seemed like a typical college roommate. However, she seemed like a girly girl, which somewhat intimidated me. This is because I am neither a girly girl nor a tomboy. Plus, she seemed popular unlike me. Nonetheless, I kept a positive attitude until she messaged me on Facebook one day.

My supposed roommate informed me that she had switched roommates. She had been at RIT for the summer program, and requested her old roommate whom she had already befriended. I was taken aback, but responded considerately. Then, I had to wait a day or two to find out who my real roommate would be. Once again, we added each other on Facebook and I tried to gather information about her from her page.

This time, I found out that my ex-roommate wasn’t lying, that is because my new roommate was first supposed to be roommates with my ex-roommate’s previous roommate. Got all that? So after we got that settled, my new roommate and I talked to each other about ourselves. However, there was one big detail that I had already assumed by looking at her profile picture, which she nonchalantly mentioned in a list of many other facts about herself. She was a lesbian.

Now I’m sure there are other straight people out there, besides me, that would be scared to find this out about their roommate. Of those people, some would immediately want to request a new roommate. In addition, my new roommate was a butch, which I thought would be even more intimidating than a girly lesbian. But most importantly she was still very nice and friendly. Although I was certainly worried about having a gay roommate, I still wanted to give her the chance that my ex-roommate didn’t give me.

During my first weeks here at RIT, my main concern was getting dressed in the room. I was clearly wary of changing with her in the room, but I knew she had a girlfriend, which eased my nerves a bit. It also helped that when I took a shower, I didn’t walk back to my room in a towel or robe. I always come out of the bathroom dressed. Both of us always changed, and continue to change, in our separate corners of the room. I have never caught her watching me change, even though my back is always to her.

Soon, I felt much more comfortable around her. There are still some awkward moments, but they are bound to occur. It always takes time to adjust to a change, in my case having a gay roommate for the first time, and getting accustomed to dorm life. In the end, having a gay roommate isn’t as strange as people make it out to be.

If you want some basic tips about living with roommates, check out this link. Most importantly, follow the guidelines for making a roommate contract. These are probably required at your school, and definitely at RIT, so do your best to make a contract that is reasonable and make compromises with your roommate when necessary.

Do you have an interesting roommate story, comment, or question? Share it in a comment below for me to address. If you are fresh out of ideas, visit this page for some hilarious ways to confuse your roommate.

Welcome to Lisa's College Freshman Survival Guide!

Are you nervous about succeeding your first year at college? Well don't be afraid because I am here to help! My freshman year at Rochester Institute of Technology is coming to a close, but since it is still recent in my mind, I will put it to good use. At my school, basically all freshmen were forced to take two quarters of First-Year Enrichment. The class was designed to help us to better adjust to college life. Most of the material was very basic, and many students found it boring. However, I will try my best to address more interesting and complex issues.

This blog will assist college-bound students and current college freshmen about how to have the best first year experience possible. My posts will cover topics such as friends, dorms, roommates, exams, food, having fun and much more. Expect at least one new post on a different topic each week.

With the help of lolcats and a creative mind, I will keep you entertained. In every post, links to funny sites, jokes, more helpful information or serious discussions will be provided to expand on each topic.

Do you have any suggestions or comments? Feel free to let me know what you think; this is my first blog ever though so go easy on me! =] If you want me to cover a specific issue, all you have to do is ask and I will do my best. I hope you can find my personal experience and my tips useful! =D