Because Mercer is a commuter college, it can be hard to find friends and be social. Many students come, go to class, then leave. Others just don’t know how to start connecting.
Nayline Martinez, a Mercer student who is majoring in Education, states “I don’t talk in class at all because I am not comfortable being around people I don’t know and it makes me feel like going back to the old school where I had a lot of friends. I have tried to make friends but it is hard to introduce myself to others for me. I need friends because if I can’t understand something, then I can ask my friends, but if I don’t have any friends then who am I am going to talk to?”
According to a VOICE survey of 25 students, 20 said that making friends is hard at Mercer and they don’t have any friends here. However, five students said that it is easy to make friends because they are not shy. The people who don’t have friends they said they go to the library or cafeteria when they have free time between their classes.
Ama Baidoo, a Mercer student who is majoring in Biology, states that “It’s hard to make friends or to try to join the club. I feel like efforts to build friendships [are needed] because if you put the effort into anything, you get something out of it. The effort is worth something.”
Another Mercer student, Stephanie Townsend, who is majoring in Psychology, has more hesitance. She says “I don’t know whom to trust nowadays because they might not be the people you thought they were going to be. Students are shy and they don’t want to approach others, they want others to approach them.”
Not only are students hesitant to trust, some have had bad experiences that worsen the problem. Franklin Hytegha, a student majoring in Nursing, says, “It’s hard to make real friends who care for you. Sometimes students make friends that cheat them and it affects their life.”
One way to get started is to go talk to a Success Coach. They are here to support students and they give useful advice and see to it that students are keeping up with all their responsibilities.
One of the success coaches Nicole Killian says: “In class ask questions to students who are sitting around you.” She is right, if students don’t talk to each other then how are they going to get to know each other?
Even though it is hard, students have to be more confident and try new things like joining clubs and getting involved in activities that are happening on campus, otherwise, they have no chance to make friends. They must try to get out of their comfort zones. Staying in a shell will make you lonely and make it impossible to connect to the people you are surrounded by.
