<p>I have decided to join some clubs to make new friends, with only a month left in semester 1 of my freshman year, and actually only 2 weeks of actual school left when discounting thanksgiving and finals. What should I expect when I go to their meetings? Will most people be somewhat cold towards me since they will probably already have their friends in those clubs since it is so late into the semester already?</p>
<p>Usually, does it take a while for the people you meet in clubs to become friends you can eat lunch with and hang out with on the weekends? Or can it occur after just one meeting?</p>
<p>it is not an automatic thing. You can’t just “join some clubs” and expect to have friends immediately. You have to join a club that really interests you and go to ALL of their events. Going to one club meeting once a week or every other week is not going to make you friends. If they have community service events - GO. If they have weekly dinners - GO. If they have parties - GO. If some people stay after and chat, stay after and chat. Show up early to chat with others as well. If people are helping set up, or put stuff away, offer to help out. </p>
<p>In terms of how easy it is to make friends in clubs, it really depends on the nature of the club. Go to more than one club and you will notice the atmosphere at each is most likely going to be very different. Some people are going to be more talky-and willing to meet new people, others are going to already have their group/friends. Just go in with an open mind and willingness to talk to just about anyone (including E-board. If you are on friendly terms with the people who run the club, there will be even more opportunities to get to know other people within the club).</p>
<p>^It’s definitely true that every club is different. In one of my clubs we pretty much force friendship on anybody who enters the room. The other, I am not sure if anybody ever sees anyone outside of the meetings besides me. </p>
<p>Is there anybody who actually seriously thinks, “you know what, screw new people, i am going to ignore this cool person trying to talk to me because i already have my BFFS!!!1!” ?</p>
<p>Ditto. Sometimes when people are in a club together, they’ll set up get-togethers (parties, casual dinner, etc) outside of meeting time, and this is how you’ll really make good friends. You’ve already met these people, now just take advantage of new opportunities to socialize.</p>
<p>Also, forget the whole “they’ve already got social groups” thing. Most college students WANT to continue meeting new people. Even if someone already has a good group, more friends is never a bad thing. Who doesn’t want new friends? Everyone likes meeting cool and interesting people, always, and if you have something in common with someone, chances are they’ll be more than happy to talk to/hang out with you.</p>
<p>Exactly. A lot of people seem to think that people make all of their friends freshman year and then just cut off the rest of the world. Think about it from a different perspective. If you were hanging out with a bunch of friends, would you shun an interesting guy who came up to you, just because he’s not already part of your group? I feel pretty confident saying most people wouldn’t.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s the fact that people shun new comers, but that they’re not as desperate to meet more people and make more friends. So I think for extroverts nothing changes too much, but introverts may find it more difficult to make friends.</p>