For many kids, making friends does not come easily. In such a situation, the pressure is even higher when you are moving to a new school. You might decide that making friends is not your thing and you will stay alone in a corner and not talk to anyone. This might be a bad strategy because recent research shows kids who lack friends may suffer from mental and emotional difficulties later in life.
Interacting with friends allows you to learn numerous social skills, including communicating, teamwork, critical thinking, and even problem-solving. Students tend to enjoy school more and look forward to the lessons when they have friends they can share their experiences with.
Having friends might even affect your overall performance, especially when it comes to group work or presenting an assignment as a group. So with all the benefits, you stand to gain, you must learn how to make friends at a new school on the first day.
Talk to Someone Sitting Alone
If you are a bit shy, it becomes easier to talk to someone alone than in a group. For instance, you can use a lunch break to identify a student who is sitting alone and join them. You can even offer to share your food, which shows your generosity. This helps you connect with that person on a deeper level. Start on a good note by listening and understanding what they are saying so that the other person can feel heard. Don’t forget to remember their name so that you can refer to them appropriately when you see them the next day.
Use Questions as Icebreakers
People love it when you show interest in them, and there is a high chance they also love to talk about themselves. So if you want a cool line, ask the person sitting next to you where they bought a cool gadget or accessory. Just as you would ask someone who can write essays for money questions because you want to gauge their skills or knowledge, you should use the same tactic when making friends.
Ask questions that are relevant or those that create a conversation. Avoid questions that are answered by a simple yes or no. Instead, go for open questions that encourage a discussion and allow both parties to know each other.
Make Friends With Common Interests
It’s easier to make friends with people you have things in common with. You can join a school club or class that allows you to meet people with common interests. Besides, when you choose friends with a common goal, you can work together or encourage each other to achieve them.
You will also find that you enjoy almost everything you love when you are with your friends without sacrificing things you consider fun, but they don’t.
Don’t Shut The Door
This is figuratively and literary. For starters, don’t go to school on the first day of school, hoping to make friends, yet you move around wearing headphones. If you are a freshman, try leaving your door room open, which motivates the next-door neighbor to pop in and say hi. If the classes are almost over, you have not made a single friend, invite the person sitting next to you for a movie, or play the latest PlayStation game. Maybe making friends required you to put yourself out there and make a little effort or take a risk.
Be Courageous
Yes, making friends can seem scary. However, everyone is scared of something. Stop magnifying your fears and gather the courage to speak confidently and go for what you want and believe in. Besides, stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new like making a new friend helps build confidence. If you keep waiting for other people to make the first move, you might never make friends.
Initiating a conversation with your peers makes you look more approachable. To do this, talk to your classmates as if they are already your friends, keep it light, be polite, and don’t dive into topics that would make some people uncomfortable. The best way to initiate a conversation is to be courageous and have confidence in yourself.
Starting school is a stressful time for many students. Initiating friendship helps to make the education journey fun and offers better outcomes. Hopefully, with the guidelines provided in this post, any student, regardless of the academic level, can find it easier to make friends on the first day of school.