Coming down to the University of Mobile with my family the night before moving in was the first time it set in that, after my parents left, I would be alone. I didn’t know anyone, and my roommate and I only texted a few times about how we would set up the room and what we would each be bringing. The next day after lunch my parents left. It would be just me and my roommate since we had moved in early, and Ram Rush new student orientation was still a week away. So, to avoid the fear and nerves, I have a few tips on how to make friends at college for anyone starting in the same place I did.
Tip #1 Go for a walk around campus with your roommate. The first day my roommate and I sat and watched 3 movies instead of talking, but after dinner, we decided to go look at the campus and see where everything was. We walked the whole campus for about an hour, found things to talk about, and after that, I had my first friend at UM.
Tip #2 Go to Ram Rush. When you move onto campus on the official move-in day, you will start making friends even before your parents leave campus. Your first weekend at the University of Mobile is jam-packed with events where you get to know people – themed dinners each night, a massive dance party, and a pool party. It’s the highlight of everyone’s first month at UM because you get to know so many people. My freshman year roommate and I met one of our best friends because we all went to a tailgate together. It’s the best time of the year to get your face out there and be known.
Tip #3 Ask people if they want to study together. I came into college hoping to be a physical therapist, but science classes aren’t my strongest area of study, so I got plugged in with a couple of other freshmen in class and we started studying. They both stayed with their original majors. I changed mine, but after that study group we still all kept in touch throughout college. We’d all meet up and still study for our individual classes together. Don’t be worried about not being the smartest in the group – trust me, you’ll have taken notes on something they didn’t and you can help everyone out that way.
Freshman year is the best time to make friends, and the University of Mobile makes it easy. Go on walks, stay up late, or wake up early and talk with people at breakfast, play cards in The Commons, join an intramural team, go to a soccer tailgate. The University of Mobile is full of ways to know people and be known.
Tucker Hill is a senior at the University of Mobile majoring in Integrated Marketing Communication. He is from Hoover, Alabama, just south of Birmingham. Tucker learned about UM from a school fair at the church he attended back home, and after the first visit fell in love and knew this was going to be home during his college years. In his free time you’ll either catch him with friends doing something around campus, at Dauphin Island skim boarding or surfing, or in his room resting after a busy week.