Moving is hard for everyone; it doesn’t matter how self confident you are or the social status you have. A new life and environment always brings multiple challenges, that mostly focus around the social aspect of an individual and the ones around him/her. This experience is something that may strike many students going into college, no matter if you’re going in or out of state or even outside of the country, there are ways you can deal with this experience in the best and fastest way possible. Being a foreign student myself, I can assure you this advice comes directly from experience— it has helped me a lot, as I have merged into this new country, and I’m sure it will help you with any related experiences that the future holds for you.

It’s your first day of college, you just moved in the night before and you start to see all the people that walk around the place you will live in for the next few years. Excitement and nervousness are inevitable, and it is natural to ask oneself: what will others think of me? How will they treat me? Will I ever fit in? Before you try to befriend these people and create your place in a new society, it is essential that you will need time before anything else. Meeting people requires learning about their habits, lives, friends or experiences that you share with them, how a system works, the mindset of a group of people, among many other factors that can shape a society. With this in mind, you can always know that not fitting in is very unlikely unless you have the patience to do it.

Although time does open a lot of doors for us when we’re trying to feel comfortable in a society, our own effort must not be dismissed; waiting for people to come around will only make your transition worse and longer. You cannot behave as a spectator, but instead gain the courage to ask questions and engage in conversation, ultimately defeating your shyness and boosting your confidence even further. You have to remember that, although first impressions do have an impact on how someone blends in into a new society, they are not permanent. What’s more, no one cares too much about you as they care about themselves; the fear of not liking someone is not something to worry about, and even if, by any reason, it comes down to that, there are many other things out there to worry about rather than liking a person. There will always be someone you’ll feel comfortable with.

You can have patience and be open to meet people, but how do you actually talk to them in the first place? One option is always talking to a stranger walking in the hallway, although the probabilities of this person talking back to you are potentially low. So then, how can one create relationships while avoiding awkward moments? First of all, you must face the fact that not all encounters will be comfortable, differences between ideals or a lack of presence in a conversation are always a possibility when you meet someone new, but don’t let this stop you from looking; you have to keep creating and taking any opportunity you have to widen your social circle. Assist field trips, become part of a club, join a sports team or do anything that forces you to socialize with others that share an interest with you. It’s simple: you meet people, decide whether they’re worth hanging out with or not, and create relationships. That’s it; the rest you let time take care of.

The last thing I would like to add to this article is that no matter where you go in the world, whether you are in another town a few minutes away or in the middle of nowhere or in the Sahara desert, always remember to be yourself. Blend in with a society, as they say, “when in Rome do what you see,” but don’t fake who you are. Make it easy for you, otherwise either time will show your true face or your own self won’t hold the pace that you need to keep up with someone you are not. Build based on who you are, create your way in this world, and never forget that everything comes with patience. All this I’m personally telling to you from experience.