Going to college, Alone.

[similar.squirrel]

So, I am going to college again in September. I dropped out last year to take another stab at my finals, which ain't going so well.
That in itself isn't a problem, as I have found a course for which I already have the neceassary qualifications. Basically, I want to study ecology and this course is an introduction to Zoology, Botany, Biomeasuremnt, Earth Science and a sof other subjects that I find highly engaging. It also involves a lot of fieldwork in a National Park.
There's the option to finish with either a Higher Certificate [one level higher than a high-school diploma], or continue and do a BSc [Hons] in a more specialized Wildlife Biology course. In short, it's perfect.

Anyway, the plan, up until a month or so ago when I got dumped, was to go back to college in the town where I had been studying previously and do a degree in Herbal Science [which has a bit too much biochemistry for my liking] or Earth System Sciences [for which I doubt I'll be able to make the grade]. My best friend of ten years resides there, as well as the aforementioned ex. This new-found course is better suited to my interests by several magnitudes, but I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of living in a new town for the next 2-4 years. I'm blighted by social awkwardness, and I'm not sure I'll be able to make new friends. I've literally spoken to only two people on a daily basis besides my family for the past two years, those two being my ex and aforementioned best friend.
This new course is taking place in a college around an hour and a half from the town where I intended to study, so I guess it's not that far..

Anyway.. Is this stupid? Am I being a p*ssy? Have any of you had similar experiences with being plonked in the deep end, so to speak?
I really want to do this course, but I dread the idea of being alone for the next few years.

 

[BonsaiK]

Anyway.. Is this stupid? Am I being a p*ssy? Have any of you had similar experiences with being plonked in the deep end, so to speak?
I really want to do this course, but I dread the idea of being alone for the next few years.

I've done similar stuff. Jumping in the deep end is the best way to improve those social skills. Take this as an opportunity to broaden your horizons and meet new people. This could be one of the best things that's ever happened to you.

 

[gazumped]

This could be pretty helpful for you.
I refused to even look at colleges outside my home town because I'm socially awkward and hated the thought of having to make new friends (lucky for me I live in London and there's a great arts university here so that worked out well).
The thing about that, though, is I haven't even bothered being sociable with people at uni 'cause I already had friends to hang out with. But then I grew distant from my friends because I had so much college work and kept not going out when invited, and then it was too late to get into the cliques that had already formed at college, especially as shy as I am already.

What I'm trying to say is that if you've got more motivation to make friends, it should push you to make an effort to come out of your shell. And then you'll have friends in two towns!

 

[leedwashere]

While I wasn't dumped beforehand, I do know a lot about what its like to be plunked into the deep end on your own.

I'm a very shy person who also has trouble inserting himself into conversations and have difficulty keeping them up, I have a difficult time making friends for that reason. Anyway, I grew up in northeast PA, but decided to go to college in Florida. I knew nobody whatsoever when I first started and, after the first semester where my dad helped me move into the dorm, I pretty much was on my own the whole time, having to figure everything out for myself. I spent 75% of my first semester pretty much alone, not really talking to anyone *at all.* In the end, I found that for someone like me who is really shy, classes that give you projects that you have to end up working in groups for are the sort of saving grace that makes it easier to start making friends, especially if the projects require you to get together outside of class. It can be difficult to take these relationships beyond friendly acquaintances, but it can be so very worth it.

For my own part just forcing myself to not refuse interaction (even though I still had trouble initiating it) landed me my current best friend, and my current job.

And speaking of my current job, that's another instance where I got plunked into the deep end. As I said, I grew up in PA and went to school in FL, but then got an internship where I work now, which is in California. Unlike with school, where my dad helped me move in the first time, I was completely on my own for this. I had to drive all the way across the country, find a place to live and start working with people on a daily basis where I knew nobody at all. As a socially awkward person it was scary as hell. In the end, though, just not refusing interaction with people ended up creating friendships, slowly but surely. Its the best advice I can give.

 

[Marik2]

Anyway.. Is this stupid? Am I being a p*ssy?

Yes.

Man up and the get the job done.


Just take each day as it comes, focus on your studies, save monies, and do something fun every once and awhile to preserve sanity.

You'll make friends or you won't, no point in preventing hamstringing your entire life over events/things that may or may not happen.

Yup pretty much this OP.

And besides college isnt really about making friends(sure its nice to have friends on campus, but its not the end of the world when you dont make one) its about earning a degree.

 

[Psymon138]

As a couple of people have said, moving away could actually be pretty good for you. It worked for me.

Before I went to university I was something of a shut in. I didn't have a huge social circle except a couple of friends from school and the people I worked with. Then I took a course in a uni away from my home, I knew no one there and so I had to throw myself in at the deep end and try talking to people. Now I'm quite a gregarious person, I have a girlfriend and almost everyone I know back home says I'm far more confident than I used to be.

In many ways it's easier to try and make friends in a new town. Think of it this way: No one knows you, no one has any preconceived ideas about you, so get in there and show them what your like.

 

[ddrfr33k]

*snip*

I'm a total city slicker and I admit it. When I went to college in a town 1/25 the population of my hometown, I knew absolutely nobody. Well, except one. But he didn't like me, so that doesn't count. I wound up meeting a lot of awesome people my freshman year, and the overall experience broadened my social aptitude. (I'm autistic. The art of conversation has always thrown me for a loop.) I say go for it, you might have some fun in the process...

tl;dr: DO EET! you will not regret it. Heck, you might even have some fun in the process.

 

[Hashime]

I went to university alone. It is not a big deal. I keep in contact with my "old" friends via steam and visits, and I have made new friends.
Really, meeting new people is good.