Building friendships at SDSU
One of the biggest, if not THE biggest things that incoming students often look forward to (and are scared of too) is the prospect of making and building new friendships in college.
WIll they like me?
Will I like them?
What if we don’t get along?
And the same is true at SDSU… BUT, when you invest in these relationships that might start out with a few awkward hellos and study breaks, they may just end up being the people you end up walking through life with!
Here’s some advice from some of our upperclassmen:
Isaac C. (junior)
This is something that takes intentional thought and discipline to do - and something I honestly still struggle with. It’s really easy to just dip under their radar for a few weeks when you’re neck-deep in school-work that you procrastinated on.
One tip I have to share though is:
Focus on quality, not quantity - make the time that you talk with them be meaningful and genuine; it’s pretty easy to just get in the habit of thinking “If I call my mom once a week, I’ll be fine” and treat them like an objective more than genuinely connecting with them.
Make time for them - If they’re people who you really want to stay connected with, put in the corresponding effort to finish homework earlier than the deadline and study in advance so that you can call them.
Grace (senior)
In all honesty, people just tend to retain the same friend group once they find their community, so it's the part about finding your people that can be intimidating. One tip is to get close with the people you live close to, such as roommates, housemates, or other people on your floor. It just makes spontaneous adventures to the beach or even just to the library so much easier to coordinate. You can make friends from your living space by going to RA hosted events for your building. If anything, you'll definitely walk away with some free stuff :)
Investing in whatever community that is based around your interests also helps you find friends. Joining a bio org as a bio major for instance helps you work on different projects with a wide range of students so you can find your reference group there. Or if you are religious, you can find a church community you feel comfortable with to build your lifelong friends; I know I did!
While it might feel hard to get the relationships rolling, don't give up! The more memory making moments you have with the people you are around, the closer you'll get.