Picture this: You’re walking down the hall to class on a Tuesday ready to take on the world when all of a sudden you see someone from a class you were in two semesters ago. You go over and say hi and poof, that person just walks right past you without even acknowledging your existence.
This is called the cold shoulder, and it’s an icy experience not too many people enjoy experiencing.
A cold shoulder is an injury to the ego that can easily be prevented. Just because you recognize someone from a class, it doesn’t mean that you will automatically become friends with that person. Friendships require not only time to grow, but effort as well.
Nick Rizzo, a business and human resource management major and restaurant server, believes that the first step to friendship is to actively seek it out.
“Just be outgoing and you’ll be all right,” said Rizzo who has made a lot of friends through student organizations and classes on campus.
EMU has plenty of student organizations on campus for people looking for friendship. There are 271 organizations listed in the directory in the student organizations web portal on emich.edu for you to browse.
To learn more about the vast array of student organizations at EMU and how to join them, you can visit Campus Life located in Student Center room 345.
Say you found an organization however your people skills are not quite in your wheelhouse yet. Socially awkward people of Eastern, rejoice, the EMU Communications Department offers a class that can help you, CTAC 227 – Interpersonal Relations.
“Particular attention is given to improving interpersonal communication skills,” according to EMU’s online course catalog.
Blogs are another great resource people looking for friendship can benefit from. “The Friendship Blog” for example offers advice for people trying to make friends, people trying to keep friends, and people who have no friends.
Hopefully, after a few visits to this informative blog, which has been featured on CNN and in the New York Times, everyone can find themselves a friend.
Friends on campus can provide a lot of positivity. You can share stories, study and eat together, vent, act as a support system, and even find opportunities for knowledge or even jobs through networking.
Public Relations Junior, Gabrielle Burgess-Smith, has learned quite a bit about networking through her major.
“I’ve had academic and non-academic opportunities from friends and mentors in my three years here,” she stated.
Friendships are very good to have and on this campus; there are a lot of people eating lunch alone, say “hi” to someone and get in the friend zone.
