Does anybody have advice on moving out of state for college? Will I be lonely the first few months? How can I prepare for the process of making friends? Is it worth it to stay instate because of my family and friends here? I want to move up North because I was born there and feel it is “home” but no longer have any connections up North. It often takes me a while to warm up to people and fully trust that they want to be friends. Advice???
It depends on the school. If it’s a place with a lot of out of state students, many will be in a similar position to you and eager to make friends.
At more residential (as opposed to commuter) schools, there will be many students from out of the area (many states are large enough that even in-state students are from distant areas).
Hi! I moved halfway around the world for college (my parents live in Asia for work). It can be hard but I have friends that moved from 20 minutes away and sometimes it seems like they actually have a much harder time. You won’t be the only one who is lonely the first few weeks.
In terms of making friends, there will be orientation activities probably the first few days you’re there to help you break the ice with people that live in your dorm. These acquaintances most likely won’t last but will definitely help keep you from feeling too lonely the first few weeks. Even if you’re not very outgoing, go to the activities fair and join the mailing lists for a bunch of clubs that interest you. Then decide whether to go to meetings of each of them, but err on the side of too many at first. Be sure to try chatting with people who look interesting and nice, before and after classes you have with them. Invite them to go to the library and study together.
If you’ll be really far from home, try to make friends with a few people (students or even professors) who live close by. They can probably help you find a place to go for short breaks (like Thanksgiving) when you can’t go all the way home.
Make sure to stay in communication with friends and especially family! Take advantage of all the wonderful technology we have at our disposal, like Skype and FaceTime, to see and talk with your family as much as you can!