I came to this school with a few people that I knew and talked to but never really hung out with. Most of my best friends got scattered around attending different schools so I was forced to get closer with the other kids from my old school as well as make new friendships all together (which is another motive behind this blog). The first few weeks of school I spent most of my time with my two friends from high school. Always in their room and hanging out after class, basically whenever we had free time we were together because we didn't know many new people yet. As the days went by, though, I began to break away from that and meet new people from other schools eventually got closer with my roommate and some of her friends. This was working out nicely for me, that way I had options and wasn't confined to the same two or three people to keep me company and go through my college experience with.
The problem of jealousy came into play when one day I was hanging out with my two high school friends and they asked what I had done earlier that day because they hadn't heard from me, and I answered with something along the lines of, "I was having lunch with a few of my friends, sorry." My choice of words seemed to bother them and they responded sarcastically with, "Oh her friends! I forgot, you're Miss Social now." I just laughed it off and we went about our day. Then a few days later I was unable to hang out again because I was spending time with some people I had met in the dining hall for dinner and they seemed really bothered by this. The next time I saw them, remark after remark about me blowing them off flew at me and how they don't have anyone else to hang out with if I can't, and I asked why they haven't tried meeting any new people. One of them stopped and said, "Well I've met some in classes and what not, but I just haven't taken the time to remember anyone's name." This bothered me that they were upset because I was making friends and meeting people and enjoying my first month of college and they were making no effort what-so-ever to do the same.
This situation is why I chose the quote that I did as my title for this blog. These two friends of mine were not making any effort to meet new people until they realized that they don't have anyone to hang out with at meals if the other one was missing, they didn't have anyone to do group projects with in their classes, they didn't have anyone else to say hi to while they were walking to class. I feel like this is all a very essential part of the college experience. While we are all here to get an education, I think that the little things like having someone to study with can truly make a difference in how willing someone is to go through four, five, six years to get that important education and I think everyone should be understanding of those who want that as well.
I definitely agree with the last paragraph, that college is not just about getting your education, but the experiences you go through while you are there. We can learn things, memorize lectures and books, but what does that do when we get out in the real world? Our conversations with others are not going to be, “Well when I touched the stove, my interneurons communicated with the Spinal Cord Reflex to move my hand away from the heat”. No one talks like that, or at least anyone I’ve talked to. I believe people should get involved in school activities, clubs, sports teams, volunteering. Who knows, the people we meet may be the connection to our future careers! I think your friends should support how you are meeting a whole bunch of new people, and they should be doing the same!
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