Anxious girl Tribune Content Agency
If you’re anything like me, it may take you a while to get acquainted with environments or situations that are foreign to you.
During my academic career, I’ve attended four different schools, so I am familiar with the feeling of being a new student at a new school in which I know close to no one.
This experience is intimidating for anyone, but it is especially so for those who suffer with social anxiety, much like myself.
I can attest that the fear of embarrassing myself or saying the wrong thing in front of my new peers was definitely very present throughout the first few months of my first year at SXU.
However, I managed and got through it, and even with all my anxieties and worries, I was still able to make a good group of friends, and now, I feel like much more of a part of the SXU community than I did when I first started!
Here are some pieces of advice I have for any members of the incoming freshman class who suffer from social anxiety, as someone who has always shared the same struggle:
1. Get involved
I’d bet a good amount of money that this is a phrase you’ve heard like a broken record.
As students begin high school and college alike, they are relentlessly urged by faculty and other students to “get involved” in their schools clubs and activities.
When I was in high school, I thought that getting involved was overrated and that school organizations were boring and would take up too much of my free-time.
I am forever grateful that I entered college with a different mindset than this, because I now see the importance of getting involved in school activities in a new school. It genuinely is such a simple way to make friends with similar interests that align with yours.
My advice to anyone struggling to find something to join is to find something that closely aligns with something you enjoy spending time doing. You don’t necessarily have to join something that relates to your major (or even know your major, yet), but find something that interests you.
2. Talk to faculty members
If you have a professor or any other kind of trusted mentor, make sure to talk to them about your interests, and see if they have any suggestions as to what activities you should join.
If you’re fortunate enough to already know what you want to major in, it may be a good idea to talk to a professor that works in your field of study about student organizations to potentially join!
3. Talk to your peers as much as possible
Find literally any excuse to talk to someone!
Compliment the shoes the person who sits next to you is wearing, even if you really don’t particularly like them.
People love to be complimented, and they also love people who seem approachable and friendly.
Try to find someone who strikes you as somebody you’d like to be friends with, and be open to meeting new people you may not have been friends with before college! Which leads me to my next point…
4. Broaden your horizons
You should leave college more open-minded and with a much wider perspective on life than when you began. Use this time to self-reflect and grow, and don’t be so quick to judge others.
Being judgy and narrow-minded can keep you from having new experiences and keep you from growing as an individual. Mean-spirited energy like that stopped being cute after middle school.
College is supposed to be a transition period between childhood and adulthood. This is the period of time in which you will begin to figure out who you really are.
In my opinion, this time will honestly change you for the better if you are receptive to a new experience and willing to be the best version of yourself.
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