Making friends in class is not as easy as it looks
By Elizabeth Le
Comment Contributor
It seemed as though the guy next to me in my accounting class was trying to steal quick little glances at me every five seconds or so.
We were about halfway into the period when he finally said something to me. When the professor was teaching us how to do a balance sheet, he turned to me and said something along the lines of “I don’t understand this.” Me being the chatterbox I am, responded with, “I don’t either.” And thus began our superb friendship. Just kidding.
My point though? My point is making a friend or two in classes can be quite an ordeal.
At the beginning of each semester, I always tell myself that I’m going to actually try to befriend at least one classmate. It always makes me happy when I have someone whom I can look over at in class and share ridiculous facial expressions with, or even just a simple smile.
However, this is always easier said than done.
The problem is in classes where the professor lectures throughout the whole class period, giving students no chance to start up a conversation with classmates.
Just recently, on the first day of one of my new classes, we had to find someone among the class, whom we did not know, to share a fun fact with for a little name-remembering exercise. At first, I thought “Hey, maybe I can use this to my advantage.”
So I got up and moved to sit with the people behind me. Since there were an odd number of students in the classroom, my group was the one with the extra person. When my group was up, the two girls shared each other’s fun fact and I was left without a fun fact to share.
Sure, my experience with group work hasn’t been great, but in rare occasions, it does work out. In my second-year seminar, the people in my groups were kind and extremely funny. It made the class enjoyable.
At times, I do wish to rewind time and experience that again. I know that may never happen again though.
Group work or not, I have to take advantage of all the chances around me to get to know and befriend the people in my classes because let’s face it, classes are more enjoyable when you have a friend there with you.
Who knows, maybe by the end of the semester, I will even consider the guy who sits next to me in accounting a friend.
Elizabeth Le is a Comment Contributor. Editor-in-Chief Greg Dudek edited this story. Email him at gdudek@student.bridgew.edu.
