In class, students are focused on the material and taking notes. In a lot of ways, besides the occasional group project, there are no opportunities to make friends with classmates. Understandably, because class time is for learning not socializing, it's important to have a few people you can rely on for those days you miss class. It’s not impossible to make it through a class without being friendly to classmates, but when it comes to working on homework or studying for a test, having a support group of people who are taking the same course as you is crucial.
The Mount does a great job at attempting to get students to interact regardless of their major. There’s a set group of core classes we must take to graduate. While some students are not big fans of core classes, one of the nice things about them is that they allow you to meet with people outside of your major and possibly people you would have never seen on campus otherwise. These courses allow students to break the ice on what they want to do with their lives during and after college which opens up the opportunity to make friends. During my first-year symposium class, we consistently had moments to share more about ourselves, the majors we declared, and what we foresee our lives going after graduation. This would constantly open the class up for new conversation when someone says they plan on going to an ivy league school for graduate school, they're going to open a local business, or for myself, wanting to become a professional wrestler.
In my experiences at the Mount, most students are very open to being friends, especially as a first-year student. During those years, you meet people from all different areas: some from different counties of Maryland, others from different states nearby, but occasionally you'll meet students who are from places across the country or even from completely different countries altogether. Everyone wants to find their group of people in and out of the classroom.
The best thing I ever did personally was to make sure I took electives that directly lined up with things I was interested in because everyone else in the classroom usually had the same level of intrigue. For example, I took Broadcast Journalism where we had to consistently participate in class and work together to find news pieces. A lot of the other students just like myself were able to express how much journalism means to them and their aspirations after college. This was a quickfire way in making friends for study groups and classroom discussion but also outside of it as well.
Especially in classes for your major, you must participate. As an introvert, that may be difficult but expressing who you are and why you're also interested in the course will instantly turn heads. Anyone who's in the same major as you will usually have a similar career trajectory or at least a similar goal. There’s an easy common ground for you all to form some sort of relationship as far as taking classes. I’ve noticed that most people in the Communication department have a similar love for content creation. This blog itself is content creation. While I make content directed towards professional wrestling, I’ve had several occurrences where myself and other Communication majors have bounced ideas off each other on how we can grow on our platforms. Overall, making connections with your peers is important to your success both inside and outside of the classroom in order to be successful academically and socially.