As a student, moving to a new town and a new Full Sail apartment is a lot of new experiences at once. Moving in general can be both exciting and sometimes a little scary. It helps to have a friend or two to provide some familiarity and help alleviate the stress of being new. Full Sail University is full of opportunities for students to connect and the surrounding area of Orlando has so much to do.
Roommates and Classmates
One way to meet someone new right away is utilize roommate matching services. Sometimes moving on your own and living alone can be a bit much in a brand new city. So, having a roommate would be perfect. Roommate matching services take information about you and information about others to pair you together for what will hopefully be the ideal living situation. If all goes well, it'll be like having a built in friend to take on this new experience with.
Another easy way to meet new people as a student is by interacting in your classes. You'll spend a pretty sizable amount of time in your classes surrounded by other people who share similar educational goals. That's the perfect environment to spark up conversations based on commonalities. It's also helpful when it's time to study. Talk to your classmates, invite them to lunch, schedule study sessions and connect over your course content. You never know what good could come from classroom interactions.
Around campus and Around Town
Full Sail University's beautiful campus infrastructure makes it a popular place for events held on campus. Whether you live in student apartments or if you live in an apartment near Full Sail University, you're in a great position to hang out on campus more frequently. Try looking on the school website and keeping up with the events that take place on campus, finding ones that interest you, going, and making friends. It's a great way to get involved while also building relationships with your peers through common interest.
When you're ready to take you search for new friends off campus, consider going to some of the places around town. Orlando is full of opportunities to have a good time. Going out alone might seem awkward at first, but searching museums, clubs, bars, networking events etc. and attending them periodically can create great opportunities to connect with others.
Online Friendships
There's another way to find friends that is a little unconventional, but can still be fun, and that's social media. Often we tend to think of social media as strictly a way to connect us online. However, social media apps and websites are great ways to begin friendships before taking them offline. Try searching some of your school's hashtags, and tagged locations, here you will see who in the area and whether you'd like to follow them online or not. Once you're following one another, you've begun the process to interactions. Try introducing yourself, commenting on photos that look like fun around town, you'd be surprised who else may be looking for a friend in the area. There are websites specifically for making new friends, check out the Top 5 online friend making sites of 2017 for more suggestions.
All in all, meeting new people can sometimes be intimidating and it's perfectly normally to be a little nervous about it. However, don't let your nerves make you miss out on solid friendships. You'll have to put yourself out there a little but take your time and have fun!