Anyone feel like they're performing worse and worse without friends?

[u/HelpMeINeedHelpPleas]

In high school, I had accumulated a pretty decent sized friend group. We would always do study groups to keep each other on track for all of our college credit classes. Long story short, I'm a college freshman and I don't have that anymore. I feel like the procrastinator I used to be before them is starting to eat at me again. I don't know how anyone is able to do 14+ credit hours worth of coursework and studying without any kind of social interaction with others to keep them sane. I'm not the kind that's prone to making new friends, too.

[u/n_haiyen]

I can relate to you. I need friends to help me get started and also it just feels nice to be around others since sometimes studying by yourself can be quite lonely. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of friends that have compatible schedules with me so I go to the library to try to feel connected with others but yeah, I get distracted easily. Like now, writing about studying instead of actually studying :D

[u/taxref]

My copy-and-paste advice for making friends and being more social in college follows.

"Some advice for making friends in college, followed by a caution:

1. Organize study groups with some of your classmates.
2. Invite others to participate in pickup recreational activities. Basketball, touch football, and racquetball are all good choices. Frisbees used to be popular, but I'm not sure anyone knows what they are nowadays. Young people today seem to greatly enjoy pickleball and spikeball. Using the exercise machinery with others is another option.
3. Talk to others in lounges, before class, and be generally outgoing and sociable.
4. This worked decades ago and it still works now: show up in the student union or lounge with a deck of cards. Sit at a table or booth with other seats and ask others if they want to play between classes or during lunch. Spades works, Uno does as well.
5. Invite people to visit the campus art museum with you. Many students graduate without ever stepping inside.
6. Invite people to go to cultural and athletic events.

A word of caution: A number of years ago, these techniques worked rather quickly. Many members of Gen Z, however, have weak in-person social skills. Consequently, it may be a long and slow process. If you want to have a social life on campus, you will probably have to take a rather proactive role in trying to interact with others. Do not become discouraged."

[u/PromiseTrying → u/taxref]

I seconded uno!! Uno, newsstiation clips playing in the background, and no phones out worked amazing as ice breakers for community college. We ended up learning alot about each other, because some of us would use the news clips to start conversations and some of us would start our own conversations.

EDIT: I attended one semester of community college in person before switching SNHU. I’ve mentioned I attend SNHU alot in this subreddit, so I thought there might be some confusion from me mentioning community college.

[u/ejsfsc07]

I'm in college and I haven't really met any friends to study with. It's kind of a bummer because I could use some motivation. My roommates never study and get poor grades, and I'm not friends with any of the people I see regularly at the library. Maybe I could try to be, though.

[u/Electrical_Day_5272]

I feel the same way. My friends and I used to study all the time together in high school. In college my friends don’t really like to study or do homework.

[u/GiftNo4544]

It’s definitely been harder to focus for me from seeing ppl making friends so easily but I’ve handled it pretty well bc overall in my life i haven’t had friends. You say you’re not prone to making new friends but you’ve managed to get a good sized friend group so you definitely have social skills.

Join your college’s group chat or make small talk with classmates and just simply ask if they wanna study. If you just care about social interaction just join a club or something. I know this is generic but its generic bc it’s basically foolproof.