After the first week of classes, finding a familiar face in a lecture might still be a struggle. If so, you are not alone. I’m starting my senior year at IU, and I still get the jitters when I enter a lecture hall and look at the hundreds of faces, scanning to see if I recognize anyone or if I must prepare to make the dreaded walk of shame to an empty seat. And even worse, when I have to crawl over people to reach the seat in the middle of the row.
I have found myself in this position more times than I can count. But perfection in college, like in life, doesn’t exist.
Some weeks you’ll feel like you’re thriving; others, not so much. Over the past three years, I’ve made friends I no longer keep in touch with, became close to people I never expected to meet and found friendships I value more than I ever could have imagined.
Even the “not so much” weeks teach you how to enjoy your own company, focus on a new hobby, or pick up better study habits. And they don’t last forever.
And you don’t always need to find friends in the classroom. My favorite memory of making friends came from an unlikely place: Wordle. I’m not even a big puzzle person, and I only started playing because I saw everyone else posting their grids. Since I started playing, I’ve kept a 100-day streak going, and one casual “Hey, did you get today’s Wordle?” to someone I didn’t know turned into daily check-ins with friends who became some of my closest. We even now have a group chat dedicated to sharing our victories, keeping us connected, even though some of us graduated. What started as healthy competition and a shared interest grew into a friendship I never saw coming.
Find one similarity, and it can help you make friends and thrive in college. Failures happen, and you might feel embarrassed at times. But every detour helps you learn about yourself and better navigate college life. Friendships often form in the most unexpected places, so don’t limit yourself to just lectures.
IU offers so much to keep you engaged, including clubs, organizations, sports, arts and libraries. While you might not immediately find your perfect match in terms of friends, take advantage of these resources and opportunities — all those small moments add up to experiences that make college worthwhile. In your short time here make the most of it. Show up to that class even if you don’t know anyone and talk to the person next to you; you never know who could become a friend.
So, here’s my advice: don’t give up. Don’t rush the process. The connections you’re looking for are often waiting in small, unexpected places. Most good things take a while to happen and stressing out about it is not healthy. So go ahead and say ‘Hi’ to that person sitting next to you and challenge them at Wordle, you might just win and make a new friend in the process.
Prakriti Khurana (she/her) is a senior studying finance and business analytics.
