How do you make new friends? How to make new friends at a new school?

2 comments

1. While you’re in school this is one of the easiest times in your life to make friends. Get involved with extracurriculars you enjoy and you’ll find plenty of people that share your interests. Once someone really clicks, start to hang out outside of school or send them memes and videos you think they’ll like. You’ll be friends in no time.

2. I smile a lot, just quick eye contact and a quick smile. I make small talk relevant to the context I’m in (introducing what position I work in and asking the other person what they do at work, asking someone what they’ve heard about a professor in a class, asking someone’s opinion in a hobby related activity).

   From there, I’m just curious, I ask questions, I try to keep it non invasive but show that I’m friendly and open to conversations. If they’re receptive, I keep chatting with them, if they’re super talkative it’s okay, I’ll try again and other time and still smile at them and say hello if I see them in the hallway. I only give up if they seem to actively dislike me ; I don’t take indifference to mean dislike.

   With time, these conversations help me evaluate if we have similar interests, what type of humour I can use with them, and you just build and build from there. At the beginning I’m completely fine putting in more energy, but then I expect reciprocation and if the other person doesn’t seem that into it, I get back down to their level of investment.

   Id I think we have compatibility for a friendship, I really hike up showing interest in what they’re interested in, what they like, I share more about myself, I make more jokes, I suggest opportunities to hang out more when events or things that interest us both are mentioned. I start texting them about our mutual hobbies or interests, not too much but enough to show that I think about them.

   And in my experience that’s how these friendships are built, little by little.