Most people are just as scared as you, they want to talk to you too, make the first move
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9 ESV
Hey There, Shay,
I do remember that story! Immediately when you mentioned the English class it took me back to the very morning and conversation we were having, if we were in Kryszco right now, I could point out the seat we were sitting in just before that class. You nailed it perfectly about not giving up, and I couldn't imagine were we both would be right now if we had gone through that. As you mentioned about College is a race, it got me thinking about the other challenges and hurdles that are apart of races and this came to mind.
Most People are just as scared as you
The first few months-probably actual the first few weeks-seem to be the most stressful for some folks. This has to do with meeting a bunch of new people, and trying to find new friends. To an extent, I feel incredibly lucky for my start to college (you'll understand why I say lucky rather than missed out). I got to skip orientation. Now, you probably are like "Wait what? Isn't this chapter what it's all about and how you meet people." Why yes, it is about that, but there oddly is so much pressure during this time frame, and even into the first few weeks of the semester, where you feel like you need to meet your lifelong college friends. Shay, you can attest, the friends we had in the first year of college, are not our current friends right now. Let me digress.
Since there is a lot of pressure during this time, this ends up turning into a quite scary thing, trying to have literally the same conversation, across a ton of freshman;
"Hey my name is Connor, what are you majoring in?"
"Hey Connor, my name is John, I'm majoring in Biology, what about you?"
"I'm also majoring in biology, what do you wanna do?"
"I think I would like to go to medical school, what do you wanna do?"….
This entire dialogue is probably repeated at most colleges, on the first few days of classes. Some mindsets to help:
The people you meet during the first few weeks of college, will (probably) not be your lifelong friends, or friends until the end of college - and this is okay!
Don't reinvent yourself just to make new friends. Just be yourself
I tried this, I became someone I did not really like and it almost costed my faith.
Remember that Jesus is working in these conversations.
Overall, everyone is in the same boat as you, they are scared too, they also want to meet people and chat, so be the first person and make the move! You don't even need to talk about schools or majors, most of the time it's an easy one to start because it gets the conversation going beyond majors, etc. Talking about sports, or even the class you are both in currently are great topics. Remember, it's easy to be caught up in the details of wanting and feeling the pressure that you need to find your life-long friends, try and relax a bit because that will come.
With Love,
CJL
