Up at Night Episode 1 Recap: USC Students’ Perspective on Finding Your Crowd in College

Health and WellnessLA Lifestyle
Written By Trojans360

by: Natalie Tom

The college environment is heavily influenced by the people you are surrounded by, whether that be intentional friendships or classmates you meet by chance. In every season of life, building meaningful connections and relationships is key for mental and emotional well-being. In the first episode of Student Health’s Up At Night Podcast on Tuesday, September 29, current USC students Camila, Angelina, and I discussed not only the importance of genuine friendships, but also practical steps to foster these relationships.

The Up At Night Podcast is a periodic event that allows people to ask fellow USC students questions and hear what they have to say about thriving in college. Tune via Instagram live @usctrojanhealthhub or join the Zoom drop-in hour with a USC account! No registration is required, and attendees can submit questions anonymously through the monitored Q & A feature.

Initiating Connection at USC

We often hear adults talk about how they met their best friends in college, but at least for me, creating lasting friendships is not something that happens instantly. Instead, I quickly realized coming into college that building relationships with new people takes a lot more time and energy than I once thought. One of the barriers that make it difficult to connect with people is simply initiating the first conversation. As Angelina mentioned in the podcast, a quick “Are you going to this event too?” can allow you to extend an invitation to an event without the fear of rejection. A casual “What are you getting at TCC?” while standing in line for food can also be the start of a genuine connection. People are almost always more willing to talk to you than you might think,and if they don’t reciprocate, you will most likely never have to see them again. 

Attending low stakes RSO (registered student organization) or Late Night ‘SC events are also great opportunities to meet fellow students. These events give you a common goal or activity to complete with other people. Especially at club events, everyone is open and even expecting to talk to new people and build community. Because these meetings are often weekly, students are able to deepen relationships over time.

Fitting in vs Belonging

Another important topic the panelists covered was feeling lonely even when surrounded by other students. Meeting new people is challenging, especially with the pressure of needing to find best friends right away in college. Camila shared that coming to college as an international student, she was afraid that her lack of interest in football would make it hard for her to connect with the many school spirited USC students. However, she realized that being authentic means putting yourself in situations that you know you will enjoy, rather than forcing yourself to suffer through something for the sake of fitting in. There is also something to be said about attending events to meet like-minded individuals. If you are constantly going to events that you don’t genuinely enjoy, it is difficult to meet people who you will get along with, as they may not be attending those events either. The balance between taking risks and feeling comfortable is something that takes time to discover on your own. 

The panelists also shared that as they have matured, they have realized that making friends who have shared values often go deeper than meeting people with similar hobbies. However, this is something that is hard to tell from a first impression. I have found that my closest friends didn’t always click right away, but it took repeated conversations to get to know them on a more personal level. Finding community and building close friendships is difficult to manage. Something to ask yourself after hanging out with people consistently is “how do I feel after I spend time with them?”. This can show you if you feel like you can be your authentic self around them. 

Throughout our podcast, the panelists shared that casting a wide net when meeting new people allows students to put less pressure on being best friends with everyone and rather build closer relationships with those who they connect with over time.

Friendships are not always instant connections. They often take time and repeated interaction to develop into a meaningful relationship.

Resources Highlighted

Loneliness is something that many students feel during their time in college. However, you don’t have to deal with it alone. USC Student Health has many resources available to you, many of which were mentioned during the episode!

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