Hi everyone, well I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. I'll be starting community college next month and I'm so excited. I'm also hoping to make a few friends, they don't have to be gay necessarily, but gay friendly at least. I'm just wondering how the atmosphere is in a community college, so I wanted to ask people who have attended one. Also I am not going to be on the main campus, I'll be on a subdivision in another town, the one I live in. I asked about clubs, but they said there aren't really clubs at my school, they are mostly active in the main school. Is it possible for me to make friends? That may sound like a stupid question, but I just don't have any idea. I'm kind of shy, but I'm very friendly and approachable, most people usually like me. Currently I have no friends though, I've been trying to change that, thank god for forums. (&&&)
Of course it's possible to make friends =) I actually made a friend of my own accord by reaching out! Ahaha, it was a big deal for me. It'd be easy to chat with seat mates, at least in my experience. If the professor is a bit eccentric, or if you need help or can help someone else... speak up when there's time to talk =) Good luck!
Generally, people come for the classes and tend to not hang around much. A lot of the students have jobs and/or families. It's a shame you won't be on the main campus. Student clubs are one of the best ways to meet people. You could try to find some one in class to study with. A good professor encourages people to work in groups. Communication classes are good for getting to know other students. Do they have student jobs there? I met some friends by working at my community college.
Congratulations on your first semester! Community college has a very relaxed atmosphere. It is different from high school in that there is a lot of freedom. You get to choose your own classes and there is a lot of personal responsibility. I think the best way to make new friends is to say hi to your classmates and see where that goes. If you are taking lab courses, your lab partner may be a potential friend candidate. It might be a good idea to think about going to the main campus to join a few clubs that might interest you, if you have transportation to do so. I would also suggest looking at any campus activities that might interest you. Usually you can meet awesome people there. Good luck!
Thanks to the three people who replied. As for the student job, I'm not sure, but I do work part time already. I don't drive as of now, but the more I'm here the more I realize I need to. I just deleted a bunch of accounts online for 'dating' and 'hooking up' that I made with the intention of making friends only. I met a couple of guys that way but they weren't interested in friendship, and I seem to have only talked to weirdos. All the guys I've seen online in my area are uninteresting to me. So I've been feeling down about it. I won't be taking any lab classes this semester, so I guess I might be a loner. I've always been a loner for the most part, maybe that's just who I am. Oh well, thanks for the comments everyone.
Provided that you are a nice person with a reasonable amount of social skills (which I am sure is the case), of course you'll make friends! I never went to CC so I have really no idea how it's like, but I hear it's more relaxed than university, right? If I managed to make friends in university, surely you'll make friends in CC. Just don't expect it to happen overnight. It took me a couple of semesters to make a couple of friends, and a year to actually have a semblance of a social life (I don't need more than that, so it's all good). So yeah, be nice, talk to people in your classes (tip: if you want to succeed in school, make friends with people who share that goal), and be patient and it's gonna be just fine.
I think that you'll be more on your own at a satellite campus, but that community college is more relaxed than high school, so you probably will make friends. I wouldn't worry about it that much. When a person tries to make friends, they don't make them. When a person doesn't even have that on their mind, just going about their business, they make friends. Are you thinking of eventually transferring to the main campus or to a 4-year university?
Oh yeah, I forgot to ad: I made one of my good friends by creating a study group for one of my classes. Why don't you try to do something like that, too?
Yes, almost all of my friends from college were people I had classes with or who were in the same major. You might also look for extracurricular activities like sports, martial arts, music, etc. Sometimes those groups of people can become life-long friends.
A bit late to the party, but as a community college graduate I totally love this topic! First things first, yes, there will not be that many student clubs on your campus since it is a satellite campus. Most people will be commuters and will not spend much of their time on campus. What can you do? Find the people that are involved on campus and start going to the few or the one club that has some people. Depending on your college there should be an office of Student Involvement. Go to said office and tell someone that you want to get involved and maybe volunteer a bit. They will be glad to help you out and will bend over backwards to do so. Also, I will highly recommend you read this book about how to successfully navigate through community college. One of the best mentors I have ever met wrote it not too long ago and I have learnt a lot from her.
Thanks everyone again. I plan to transfer to a 4 year college, as for a study group, I'm taking English, psychology, music and Korean for the first semester. I'm not sure how to go about creating a study group, I am sort of shy as well. How would I do that? The volunteer idea sounds good to me, I might try that. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
I'm going to be in the same situation myself soon. I start at a local community college next month and I'm very excited! I've been out of high school for five years now, working on and off. I'm hoping to make at least a few friends, I used to be very shy in high school but I have grown a lot as a person since then. The college is also very LGBT friendly so hopefully I will be able to meet some people who share my experiences as far as that is concerned.
