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No friends sixth form college

I just started year 12 in my new sixth form college and I noticed I have some gaps between my lessons, when I get more work I'll spend that time doing work until then I'm not sure what to do. I came to college alone and I haven't made friends in class or whatsoever, I have social anxiety and its hard to approach people in groups (most people came here with secondary schl friends or already formed a group on like the first day.
Will it be like this for the rest of the 2 years and how should I spend my lunch n break??

Reply 1

trustland

Hi I'm having a similar problem to you. I'm starting year 13 this year and last year wasn't great for me at all. I didn't make friends with a single person despite trying to at different points in the year. It was difficult for me because I went to a college that wasn't where the majority of my secondary school people and friends were going, so I started out having nobody at all.

I think you're in a good position right now because it's still early on in the year and there will inevitably be people in the same situation as you, even if it seems like there isn't. I'd say you can try to start small with the people in your classes, such as people who sit next to or near to you. Maybe say hello to them at the start of the lesson, ask how they are, ask questions about the work etc. If there's anyone you know even a bit and you see them in social areas or in the canteen etc, you could approach them and ask to hang out or walk with them for a bit if they're not busy. It's going to seem scary at first, but once you've done it, you'll know that you've tried your best and it's likely to lead to something. Another idea is asking someone to grab a drink in a breaktime, even just for 10-15 minutes or something. I'm not sure if there's advice that works for everyone with social anxiety but I've heard people say about asking yourself "what's the worst that can happen?" because if you think about it, everyone at your college is new and unsure of their surroundings. If something was awkward, which it probably won't be, they would forget about it so quickly and be focused on being new again. Plus, I don't know but there could be a lot of people in your year too.

It's never too late to make friends, but it definitely seems easier in the first few weeks of the year

You're at the start, so I don't think this would last for nearly as long as your whole two years. I know it may seem strange me giving this advice and it not working for me, but my circumstances were a bit different because I didn't always try and had other problems which kinda combined with this one and it just got a bit chaotic.

Good luck, hope it all works out for you :smile: