Is any one on here a university first year or college freshman? Have you been able to make friends with people in your online classes? What's worked to build friendships for people you're not seeing face to face? What could your teachers or university be doing to make that easier?
@celesteh iāve linked this post to my sister whoās a freshman this year so iāll report back if she has anything to add but my main impression from my own experiences this year (am in college but not a freshman) and watching herās is that thereās a big divide between classes where someone made an unofficial class groupchat at the beginning of the semester and classes where that didnāt happen
@celesteh
G: āOn one hand, bc of my small class size who share most of our classes together, we have been making friends as a group I think. On the other hand, I donāt feel like I know any specific classmate particularly well at allā
Me: āHm yeah in rl classes thereās definitely a big āperson who you sit next to and therefore talk to most vibeā
If itās all group chats that might be an effective way of forming a community but not making friends specifically
Bc no 1:1 interactionā
?@porsupah I can't tell if this is a suggestion or asking if you can boost? Boosting is fine.
long
@celesteh American student here. For me it's been pretty difficult making friends so far. I guess I'm sort of friends with some people in my house (being in a house rather than a dorm *has* helped with socialization, at least a bit), and I just joined a few clubs, so maybe that'll be an opportunity to meet people. But so far, I've been studying way more than socializing, and in my free time I barely ever hang out with people.
Many people are in multiple classes with me, so I've gotten to know their names and stuff, and in theory could get in contact with them and hang out. But that requires a level of motivation and extroversion that I don't have.
@celesteh I'm far from a first year and I'm Australian but I've done a full year of online classes now. The problem ofc, I never really made friends in in-person classes either? A group assignment was cancelled too because it was too difficult to oversee so I only hear from my peers during class discussions.
I know a first year who said back in May that he immediately found it jarring and had been so excited to make friends and now felt he couldn't.
@celesteh I know another first year art student in the US who seems to have a discord server for their class. It sounds like that has really encouraged communication and casual chatting/joking but art classes are a little more communal than other streams imo
It tends to be the case that however students are feeling 7 weeks into their first year will be how they feel through the rest of their degree and I want to know what I can do to help the new students build connections with each other because that's a super important part of studying.
But maybe everyone is managing fine without their teachers butting in? I'm especially eager to hear from American students because you mostly started in September.