Investing in Relationships 101: Putting Yourself Out There

Turns out Kayla liked The Powerpuff Girls after all. See what happens when you put yourself out there?

When I moved away to college I almost forgot what it was like to have to make new friends. Kayla and I have stayed friends all these years, and I hung out with the same group of friends throughout middle school and high school, so when I got to New York it was like I was back at square one.

Luckily, I really liked my roommates and all three of us became close friends. In fact, they were pretty much my only friends for my entire first semester.

After we came back from winter break it started to become frustrating seeing everyone else cultivating new relationships and starting friend groups, except for us. Looking back, I can see now that since I grew up with the same close group of girls I just assumed that making new friends would magically happen on its own. Sadly, that’s usually not the case.

I soon realized that the reason I wasn’t making friends was because I wasn’t putting myself out there. I needed to take a page out of the Kayla and Hannah handbook and think about what my three-year-old self would do. I started talking to more people on campus and in my classes and decided to join the cross country team. I got involved with our news broadcast station and started going to campus events and meeting new people.

It’s important that before you get frustrated by the fact that you’re not making friends, whether it’s because you switched high schools, moved to a new town, or are starting college, first take a look at yourself and make sure you’re putting yourself out there and meeting new people. It’s not that others don’t like you, it’s that they don’t know you. Take my advice so that you don't have to learn the hard way. Take a chance and introduce yourself to someone new. You never know, you might get 18 amazing years of self-produced Shania Twain concerts in the car and 2 AM hair and wardrobe make-overs.