{"id":4776,"date":"2018-08-16T11:30:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T11:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/?p=4776"},"modified":"2021-10-15T20:56:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T20:56:32","slug":"the-awkwardness-of-early-friendships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/blog\/the-awkwardness-of-early-friendships\/","title":{"rendered":"The Awkwardness of Early Friendships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"244\" height=\"184\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/tenor-1.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Welcome to college&#8211; a time to enrich your life with intensive study, gain valuable career experience through internships, and interact socially with a bunch of complete strangers.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"221\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/giphy.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>It\u2019s okay to be scared. You may not be in Kansas anymore, but remember everyone is just as afraid of you as you are of them.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-3 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"258\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/tumblr_mqasjqBITS1s11tiho1_500-480x0-c-default.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>The direct approach to making friends, like in the gif above, is certainly fast, but most of us aren\u2019t that brave. Inevitably, we all go through the round-about, slow-burn, will-this-actually-turn-into-a-friendship acquaintances. Don\u2019t worry, you\u2019ll make friends in no time.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-4 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-4 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-4 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-4 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-4' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"362\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/980x.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>But it\u2019s going to be awkward. Even the most extroverted people are awkward. Especially when you\u2019re put through the friendship speed dating gauntlet that is the first day of class. In the beginning, all you\u2019ll know about your peers is their name, major, hometown, and that they went scuba diving in Mexico that one time.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-5 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-5 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-5 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-5 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-5' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/RK4U.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>No one wants to make the first move\u2014maybe out of some deep-seeded fear of rejection humanity has. There\u2019s hope though. You don\u2019t have to do things.<\/p>\n<p>I met the two closest college friends in my orientation class on the first day: Ryan (a biology major, from somewhere in Minnesota I\u2019ve never heard of because I\u2019m from Wisconsin, who plays acoustic guitar) and Sami (pre-med, from near \u201cThe Cities\u201d, which I also knew nothing about besides the Mall of America; she met Demi Lovato once).<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll likely meet a lot of people just by going to class and being in your residence hall.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-6 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-6 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-6 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-6 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-6' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"499\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/tumblr_ol7bt9bfeg1s6pp33o1_500.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You should do some things though. It\u2019s how you make friends outside the classroom. There\u2019s lots of events going on at the start of the semester. That means opportunities to get free food. Get some free food and talk to people.<\/p>\n<p>For example: go to a club\u2019s pizza night. Boom. You already have a common interest with everyone: pizza.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s warm at the start of fall semester, so go outside. There\u2019s four volleyball courts on main campus alone at WSU. Play a game and get to know your teammates. Or, choose a different activity during <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winona.edu\/welcomeweek\/students.asp\">Welcome Week<\/a>. Talk to the people who go to the same events as you.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-7 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-7 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-7 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-7 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-7' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/giphy-71.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Now, you can escalate to asking your new friends to do something outside of school. Like getting food. Noticing a common theme here? While you\u2019re getting food, talk about other things you like to do, not just Netflix.<\/p>\n<p>Think of a list of things you like: bands you like, shows you watch, hobbies you have, classes you\u2019re taking this fall. The conversation will start to feel natural once you know more about each other.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-8 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-8 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-8 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-8 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-8' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"498\" height=\"498\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/tenor-1-1.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Before you become BFFs you\u2019ll most likely have to endure some awkwardness, but it\u2019s worth it in the long run\u2014trust me.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-9 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-9 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-9 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-9 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-9' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"498\" height=\"219\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/raw.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>That\u2019s the advice I\u2019ve got for you. Go fly onto new friendships, my awkward little ducklings. Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-10 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-10 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-10 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-10 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-10' class='gallery galleryid-4776 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-full'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"227\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/tumblr_my8az0DvFR1s7gykyo5_500.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to college&#8211; a time to enrich your life with intensive study, gain valuable career experience through internships, and interact socially with a bunch of complete strangers. It\u2019s okay to be scared. You may not be in Kansas anymore, but remember everyone is just as afraid of you as you are of them. The direct [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":4780,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,1841],"tags":[1814],"class_list":["post-4776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admissions-blog","category-campus-life","tag-commit-transition"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/08\/980x.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7OGeT-1f2","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4776"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5105,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4776\/revisions\/5105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/admissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}