Friendship is undeniably one of the most treasured experiences a person can have during their college years, where some even say it’s where lifelong friends are made.
Extracurriculars, events and even classroom settings are the most common places where friendships blossom. They provide ways to connect students to one another, no matter the type of activity involved, including homework, sports, meetings, trips, etc.
The timing of many campus activities interfere with commuter students’ schedules, limiting their opportunities to make friends outside of class.
Rinee Singh, a sophomore political science major, is a commuter who has difficulty attending campus events that are later in the day.
“Commuting is one problem, [but] another thing with commuting is you cannot attend all the events,” Singh said “if your classes end at like 2 p.m. and the event is at 6 p.m., you’re gonna have a huge gap.”
Singh believes it’s important for commuting students to make friends that live on campus, because they are sometimes capable of providing a space to stay and relax during gaps between classes and events.
“I was fortunate enough to find a group of people that live on campus, so I have a place to stay for a few hours. Or if there’s a really late night event, I can stay here [at a friend’s] overnight and then go back [home] in the morning,” Singh said.
Many commuter students across the country resort to posting TikToks that depict their struggles as commuters, ranging from short and funny memes about the sacrifices they have to make, or plainly listing their complaints of feeling lonely and having little to no friends throughout their college experience.
The university is a relatively small college compared to the universities the students on TikTok discuss. The size difference can create an alternative experience for commuter students at the university versus students elsewhere.
“I feel like when you live here [at the university], you are able to make more friends and strong bonds with people,” said Brittany Webber, a junior environmental science major. “But, I feel like because I’m not here all the time … I’m not hanging around nearly as much.”
Webber recommends first-year students, and commuters in general, to participate in class, as it could be the easiest way to make friends, speaking from her personal experience as an introvert.
“The easiest way to make friends is to be in classes that require collaborative effort. Being in class [that way], you have to communicate with people and form bonds. It makes it easier, because you’re forced into it,” Webber said.
Webber also said exchanging phone numbers to talk about upcoming tests, for help on homework, or to initiate study sessions and create study groups is also a way to form friendships.
“I don’t really talk to people outside of my class … but, you know, if we form study groups, or if we have questions or something, I’ll offer them my phone number and approach them [if they] need something,” said Webber. “Especially around exam time, because you can text and be like, ‘How do you feel? Do you feel stressed?’”
There are many other ways to make friends outside of the classroom. For example, Singh named Welcome Weekend as one of the things that helped her make friends when she was transitioning into university life.
“That’s where I met my group of friends, and since then, we have taken off,” Singh said. “Those are the people that I’m stuck with.”
Singh also recommends clubs and interest-based organizations as another easy way to make friends.
