What advice would college students and college grads give to college hopefuls about friends and getting involved on campus? Read on to find out.
What we wish people had told us...
"I commuted to Eastern Michigan (University in Ypsilanti), which saved a lot of money. One thing I missed about living 20 minutes from campus is the lack of friends I made. I know it would’ve been easier to make more friends if I had lived in a dorm on campus."
— Chris Azzopardi, Major: Journalism and Writing, Eastern Michigan University
"I am part of the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) team on campus. The group’s purpose is to design and make a smaller scale race car and compete against other teams. It really is an enjoyable project because of the team atmosphere and hands-on learning. It also allowed me to meet some of the current friends I have that I never would have met outside the organization. Most of the other organizations I belong to involve my ‘core’ group of friends."
— Christopher Semanson, Major: Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Michigan-Dearborn
"My college friends became my family, since I was 13 hours away from my hometown. I practically lived with my (volleyball) teammates. They know me like no one else does. … High school is so petty, (but) the friends you make in college will always be there."
— Andrea Beauvais, M.Sc. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, University of Missouri
"You need to realize that old friends from high school are just that. If you hang on to your old prom days for too long, you’ll end up acting like an 11th grader forever. I have a couple of friends from high school that I am still close with, but most I just see in passing and that is fine. The thing about college is that you will grow and change as a person so much in four years that it is hard to still be on par with people that you thought were cool at 16. Don’t feel bad; just realize you are growing up."
— Adam Sparkes, B.A. Journalism, Eastern Michigan University
"I tried to be bold and introduce myself to the people around me. There is always that awkwardness at first, but you can ask questions such as, ‘What year are you?’ ‘Where are you from?’ ‘What is your major?’ … You generally notice people making friends pretty quickly with the people around them when you are in smaller classes. People in large lectures would tend to sit by people they already knew. It is important to reach out to others in class because you are going to be around these people for an entire semester. It helps you look forward to class when you have someone you can count on to sit by and work with."
— Mary Lent, Major: Pre-business, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
"I used to work in the student activities building. There, I’ve met more than 100 different people. Students, we’re here to socialize. We have to. We meet up to study. We meet up to eat pizza. We talk about the college life every day. I think it’s imperative for us to reach out to other students. … Sometimes, our classes are so hard we want to give up. But I believe that if we have at least one person to talk to, to reach out to, we may be able to pick up and try again. Sometimes we need that somebody to remind us that 'We are somebody!'"
— Justine Williams, Major: Nursing, Macomb Community College
"I was nominated for chairman of this community committee (for student government). We got all the clubs working together towards the same goals. We had a tsunami benefit concert when that happened, and then we had this Culture Fest 2005, which was really cool. We had Native Americans and people from Indonesia, just all over. But it was a matter of getting all the different groups together to make those things possible. Each group was relatively small. … I spent a lot of time in meetings, which could get boring. But at the same time, it was helpful experience. I’d never really planned events; now it’s just something that’s almost second nature to me."
— Roger Fleury, Major: Communications/Journalism, St. Clair Community College