Life Advice
Welcome to Life Advice, everyone! I hope your week has been great as you prepare for parents weekend, and if not, I hope this little dose of advice can get you through the next few days before the long weekend ahead of you.
What’s the best way to make new friends?
I think the best way to make new friends is just by putting yourself out there and not being afraid to be outgoing. I think sometimes people get nervous about being aggressive in terms of introducing yourself, but there really is no harm in it because it feels nice to have another person to say “hi” to on the paths. If you’re really keen on being close with someone, I think it’s important to just be friendly to them and show little acts of kindness toward them, like things as simple as asking them to sit with you at lunch.
How do I get an EP date?
Personally, I think it’s nice to know a person a little bit before you go to EP because then the awkward small talk you have to make to and from the church isn’t as excruciating. But if you’re up for a challenge, have a friend set you up. I think usually people will go because EP isn’t too big of a deal and even if the actual set-up doesn’t end up working out, at least you got to hear some nice music and some words from the sweet, smooth voice of Rev.
How do I make friends with PGs?
I think your best bet is to go about being friends with a PG in the same way you would with anyone else because, believe it or not, PGs are people too. If you’re just a friendly and nice human in general, I’m sure that PGs will want to hang out with you just as much as you want to hang out with them. It’s like making regular new friends, if you just act like yourself, you’ll attract people that want to be around you and that you want to be around too.
How do I survive Family weekend?
Family weekend is tough because if you have family coming they usually expect your classes to be filled with these amazing, life-changing discussions, when in reality talking about how to solve a system of equations usually doesn’t have any deeper meaning that connects to obscure parts of your life and identity. But because of the fear that their families won’t think being at Exeter makes them better than everyone else in the world once they see that not every class is a riveting discussion, some people tend to go a little overboard, and you may end up with more Harkness warriors than usual on Friday and Saturday. I think the best way to go about this is to stay level headed and participate in class as you normally would because you’ll end up looking calm, cool and collected while your peers will look frazzled.
Don’t forget to end questions to iedo@exeter.edu! Until next week!
Love, Bella