By Eunice Lai, Summer Times Staff Writer
Making new friends has never been easy, especially in a foreign place with foreign people with different backgrounds, but developing new friendships is a pivotal part of life that everyone should eventually master. As Jayla Davis, 15, from Dunbar Hall said, “Friendships mean not leaving me lonely.” We are already over a week into this summer experience, and hopefully most students have already found some friends who have your back, but if not, you should make some!
So, what makes a good friend? Most Exeter Summer students would agree that some of the most important qualities of a good friend include someone who always is loyal, and is caring. James P. Swenson, 16, of Soule hall said that “this person gotta be chillin” and Naisha Deora, 14, of Dunbar hall said that her friends are “kind, compassionate, funny, and we have some things in common so we have some things to talk about.”
In other words, Lucy Warburg, 16, from Cilley Hall said that she “looks for if they have good morals, if they are kind to not just their friends but basically everyone, and I look for if they are respectful to everyone they meet.”
The benefits of having friends from all over the world are countless and includes being able to widen your circle of friends, exchange cultures, have someone to bring you around when you visit a specific place and more. Usually it’s not easy to find an occasion where you’re able to mix with people from different countries, but luckily for us, Exeter Summer has created a perfect environment for us to do so!
Nikolaos Virtorakis, 16, who comes from Greece said that he has “a wide variety of people to meet here, there’s many different types of people here.” Noora Al-Omran, 17, and Cristina Aguilar, 15, from Dunbar Hall collaborated and said that “making friends is important because it helps everyone have a better experience and have someone to talk to and to meet people from different places with different perspectives to have your back.”
Exeter Summer has also provided us with opportunities to find people with common interests to bond over, for example, the people in your different classes. They’re probably there for the same reasons as you, because you love what you do and are willing to put the time and effort to pursue this subject. Exchange contact information and perhaps find some time outside class to work together. Through that, you can continue bonding over that subject and make a new friend out of it.
Some of your classmates from Exeter Summer have also courteously provided you with some tips to make even more friends and expand your social circle.
Sumran Chahal, 17, from Amen hall suggests that you should “Just say hi to people and ask them where they’re from.”
Patrick Moriarty, 16 from Soule hall puts it in another way, advising that you should “put yourself out there and get out of your comfort zone and be open to anything.” Even if you feel that you don’t have the ability to make friends due to social anxiety, it’s not impossible to make friends.
Canya Tipmanee, 15, of Merrill hall said that she “just talks a lot and am reallY awkward and for some apparent reason people seem to dig that.”
This also applies to the Exeter Access students. Princess Davenport, 13, from Langdell Halls says that it’s easy to make friends “by going up to them and just talking and introducing yourself to them.”