Friends Past Freshman Year

 A closer look at how students build and sustain friendships beyond freshman year

by Zahra Kazmi

Photo by Serena Sharma

By the end of freshman year, it starts to feel like everyone else seems to have found their group. You walk around campus and see friend groups continuously forming, whether it's the group of girls you see hanging out every day in the Claflin basement, or the six kids who sit at the same table at Warren Dining Hall every night. In freshman year, people capitalize on the forced orientation groups everyone pretends to hate and bond over the changes and challenges that come with adapting to a new environment. Somehow, before you know it, you find yourself part of a group chat that is constantly texting and making weekly trips to City Co., a tradition. 

Then sophomore year starts, and it feels like the tone and rhythm begin to change. Class sizes begin to shrink, and schedules with your friends become harder and harder to coordinate. Some freshmen friend groups stay close, but others begin to drift as majors and priorities change. Sophomore year, it might start to feel like making friends feels less automatic, and that people aren't looking for friends anymore.

“Last year [freshman year], you really didn’t have to try,” said Ella Lam (CAS ‘28). “After that, you realize that if you want to see people, you actually have to reach out.”

The classroom then becomes the social starting point for many students. You begin to get acquainted with the faces of the people you see in class. A quick question about homework, or due dates, can turn into study sessions late at night together at Mugar. Eventually, in between practice tests and quick runs to Starbucks in the GSU, friendships and bonds truly form.

Anaya Williams (COM ’27) explained how some of her closest friends now are people she first met in class. 

“You bond over the assignments,” she said. “When you’re in the library at night working through the same problems, conversations begin to deviate from just talking about school.”

Campus feels isolating even after freshman year, students admit. With buildings that stretch all down Comm. Ave., it becomes easier and easier to move between classes without seeing familiar faces and drowning in the sea of students packing onto the T. It can begin to feel like you’re just getting smaller as the city seems to keep growing.

But clubs, Greek life, and campus jobs help fill that gap. The friendships that last usually slowly develop through repeated conversations and small efforts to stay in touch.

Freshman year friends may feel like they're built on proximity, but the friends that follow throughout the years are the ones that show up. It takes more effort, but the small things are all a friendship needs to stand the test of time. After freshman year, friends don't disappear; the ones who put effort and are continuously there for you are just the ones who stay.