The New Kid

Life got busy with grad school. I promise I have some blogs written and will post them soon. For now, here's one from my first week of school in January.

Being the new kid never gets easier...for me at least.

This week I started grad school.  A new program. A new school. In the middle of a school year.  In fact, I had never even walked across the quad at ISU and I'd only been in the b-school college of business once. I only know a handful of people that even go to ISU, let alone any that were going to be in my classes.

So I was sent back to my shy, quiet days.  It was literally like my first day of high school at U-high all over again.  This wasn't your typical first day of a semester, where you know what building you're walking to, you're familiar with the classrooms, you have seen at least a few people in your class, and if you're lucky, there's people you know in your class. This was different.

I had to find a parking lot I'd never been to and make a walk I'd never made.  I found my classroom and awkwardly walked in and sat in a spot that was safe away from anyone else.  Everyone else had their friends they already knew and sat by them.  This brought out the shy girl in me as I sat there and didn't say a word.  I didn't really plan on talking to anyone.

Luckily, a nice girl sat next to me in my first class and started small talk. This is when I realized that I was going to have to start the process of making new friends all over again.  Even if it was just friends that I talked to in class, I knew absolutely no one.  And if I wanted to go through the semester and not be mute and not say a word to anyone, then I had to make new friends.

This was a hard realization.  I was happy and content with my friends at SLU and the few I had at home.  I didn't really need new friends, but the semester was going to be miserable if I didn't.  Luckily, someone went out of their way, sat next to me, and started that process that I was too scared to start myself.  I'm thankful for that, because if not, I would have sat there alone in silence for a while.

So if you're ever in a situation where there's someone new, don't be afraid to reach out.  Introduce yourself. Say hi. Start small talk. Just that one small gesture that may seem mindless to you can mean more to them than you know.

Update: School was a lot easier after the first week (more to come on that) and thankfully I've made some friends along the way :)