When we’re born, we’re born into a specific family from which point on is "our" family. There is no switching to a new one, blood is blood. Some people come from super close families, others not so much. But once we reach a certain age we go off to school and many of us begin our first major interactions with people outside of our families, we start to make friends. The making of friends is the beginning of relationships we choose as opposed to the relationships we are born into. Of all of the friendships we form throughout our lives, friendships formed in college are a bit different.

Just as some people have good family lives and others have bad, some people form great friendships throughout school while others don’t have such fond memories. But the reason that college is different is because no matter which end of this spectrum you are on, college tends to act as a restarting point. You may still keep contact with some friends from high school, and there is always the possibility that someone you know will end up going to the same school as you, but branching out and meeting new people at college can act as a huge turning point and really broaden your horizons. You will meet people that come from all over the U.S., even several corners of the world when you go to college.

Meeting people and making friends in college can be a strange thought process to go through, though. Some people are excited to meet a whole big group of new people but don’t actually have any idea how. Other people may go to college with the mindset that they are there for school and not to make friends. No matter where you may be on the topic, I can’t stress enough how important it is to go out and make these college friends.

I was the kind of guy that commuted from home when going to school, and I literally hit class and headed home. I already had friends; I had no interest in making new friends. Here I sit several years later having made so many new friends in college that I wouldn’t trade for the world after several strange series of events. I’ve spent complete school breaks at some of these friends’ houses and I’ve even spent a couple holidays with them. These college friendships don’t devalue any of the high school ones by any means, but they come in different shapes and sizes and many times turn out very unexpected.

So how do you make college friends? Well, I’ve honestly got to say that I believe it to be way easier than back in high school. With such a diverse range of people in college and the fact that you’re all adults, you’re bound to find a good number of people you have something in common with. It is honestly as easy as putting yourself out there. You can’t worry about what other people think. I’ve made several friends already just this past week of school because of several freshmen who were willing to come by our house and hang out for a while.

You won’t get along with everybody, but so long as you go out to events, be yourself (cheesy but true), and just keep an open mind, then you’re bound to meet several cool new people that you never could have imagined until you actually crossed paths.