I'm a shy person by nature. Although I have this almost pathological need to be around someone at all times, I usually find it very hard to walk up to someone I don't know and to then strike up a conversation with them. It's just something that makes me clammy. Before I came to Trinity, I promised myself that this was one thing I would strive to change once I landed in San Antonio- that no longer would I be afraid to approach strangers and talk to them, no longer would the idea of being around people make me uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, that is a promise easier made than fulfilled. It was an incredibly difficult task, having to dredge up the courage to talk to absolute strangers, although I suppose that at some level, the knowledge that they were absolute strangers helped me.
In any case, I went ahead and spent my Orientation weeks (both, the International Student Orientation and the New Student Orientation) chatting up to as many people as I could. The more people I talked to, the easier I got, and I realized that not only were people genuinely interested in what I had to say, but that perhaps I had nothing to be ashamed of, and therefore, nothing to be afraid of when talking to everyone else. I ended up making a lot of friends this way- too many friends, I would say, as I realized to my horror when I sat down to make my Christmas gift shopping list.
Maybe elsewhere in the world, people aren't all that great, you know? Maybe they're actually all out to further their own interests, and they don't care how many toes they have to step on to do that. But that's not how they are here at Trinity- here at Trinity, people are great. And the plethora of great friends that I have made, friends that will be with me for a lifetime, is ample evidence of that fact.
Unfortunately, that is a promise easier made than fulfilled. It was an incredibly difficult task, having to dredge up the courage to talk to absolute strangers, although I suppose that at some level, the knowledge that they were absolute strangers helped me.
In any case, I went ahead and spent my Orientation weeks (both, the International Student Orientation and the New Student Orientation) chatting up to as many people as I could. The more people I talked to, the easier I got, and I realized that not only were people genuinely interested in what I had to say, but that perhaps I had nothing to be ashamed of, and therefore, nothing to be afraid of when talking to everyone else. I ended up making a lot of friends this way- too many friends, I would say, as I realized to my horror when I sat down to make my Christmas gift shopping list.
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| I made some genuinely good friends at Trinity. I think I was lucky in ending up with some of the best people on campus. |
And the more I talked to people in the United States in general (as I visited places other than the Trinity campus, and outside of San Antonio as well), the more I realized that while people here are generally polite, the people at Trinity are especially nice and extremely friendly. As my homesickness continued to get worse, I made a set of some very dear close friends, who sort of became like my surrogate family here. And this was because I had had the courage to talk to them to begin with, and because they in turn were very friendly, very nice people. And so, even occasions here that would otherwise have meant nothing to me, like Thanksgiving, the Fall retreat, the Parents weekend, Easter, and more, all became memorable, simply because they were all so keen on making me a part of their lives.
Maybe elsewhere in the world, people aren't all that great, you know? Maybe they're actually all out to further their own interests, and they don't care how many toes they have to step on to do that. But that's not how they are here at Trinity- here at Trinity, people are great. And the plethora of great friends that I have made, friends that will be with me for a lifetime, is ample evidence of that fact.
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