Nico Addai

It’s the end of April, and some of you guys will be joining the fold as college students soon! Time flies! I remember when I first stepped foot on campus. I was dressed head to toe in red, a constant smile plastered on my face. That smile disappeared in the whirlwind of first classes, work, and family stresses. One of the few things that brought that smile back other than Wellesley’s gorgeous campus was the fast friends that I had made. Over the last year, so many of these friends grew roots. These are some of the steps I followed to find these flowers in my life.

1. Meet your core group first…especially if you’re a minority. I came to the USA from Ghana where the culture is VERY different. Before coming to Wellesley, My hair and mannerisms were the norm and I cannot tell you how awkward it is the first couple of week where the jokes that used to kill come up with tepid response. Meeting other Ghanaians and African students really helped calm my spirits that I did belong and that I was funny…at least superficially.
2. Stay out of your room. No one but your roommate and your best friend will come and look for you huddled up in there, but how will your best friend find you if you don’t meet them first? Around finals, I stopped staying in my room because I’d either breakdown because of the stress or fall asleep in the puddle of books and papers I needed to read by the next day.
3. Join a club or volunteer opportunity. In my second semester, I joined a church, volunteered at Haley’s House at least once a month, and became a Let’s Get Ready tutor for SAT. The reasons to join and partake in extracurriculars are endless, but it makes conversations easier to start and click with when both of you already have something in common.
4. Act silly. I recall complaining about the rice texture in the cafeteria and likening it to rice pudding and having a girl walked up to me and say she remembered me complaining about the same thing weeks earlier outside the library. She commented that she hated the rice texture too. ‘Nuff said.
5. Take Ubers and Lyfts with other people. Make sure they’re not crazy, but otherwise, go wild! I recall meeting a Ghanaian Uber driver and talking for the whole of the car ride with him and my friend about what things are like back home.
6. Troll Tinder. It’s the most fun thing to do on an uneventful evening. Plus, in between the guys and gals you troll, you’ll find a couple who actually want to talk about things other their your genitals.

These are just some general ideas to get you going, but truly, you can meet a friend anywhere whether it’s a bus or library table. Just be open to new things. 🙂 See you next week!