Finding Friends in Unexpected Ways
Written by Jenny Wiland
While “What is the good?” may be a common question at Hillsdale, many freshmen contemplate a more immediate concern: “Will I make friends?” When I first came to Hillsdale two years ago, I was asking the same question. I knew a couple people from my hometown, and I got along with my roommate just fine, but I longed for a close-knit group of friends. Mealtimes filled me with dread of the awkward wandering between tables as I looked for somewhere to sit, and I spent my early weekends at events hosted by clubs or the Student Activities Board, glued to someone I vaguely knew as I attempted to muster up the courage to start conversations.
From what I’ve heard, my experience was common. Nearly every new student worries about making friends at the beginning of their first semester. As Bri Willhite, ’23, says, “Freshmen are always desperate for friends. Friendships tend to form out of desperation, but it’s actually a good thing, because it’s a fresh start.” If you’re worried about finding friends, rest assured that friendships will come—often in unpredictable ways.
My friend group first came together at a casual game night in the Simpson lobby. We were all freshmen at the time, and each of us had a different reason for coming. Tom organized the event and invited some acquaintances he’d previously roped into game nights at Olds. My friend, Abbee, received a text about it while walking back from an InterVarsity picnic, and she brought me along. Jonah got invited because he’d met Tom on a shuttle after losing his tire on the freeway, and he brought his roommate, Spencer. Some of these freshmen had met each other before—Tom and Conner were roommates, Ryan and Jack shared a music class, and Jack, Noah, and Jesse all met during a theology discussion that turned into a three-part piano performance of the Pink Panther theme song.
That night, we created a group chat to schedule more board game nights. Our friend group blossomed from there. We ate meals together, hung out on the weekends, and prayed together. Some of the girls in the group had movie nights in Olds, and the gamers had Super Smash Bros. tournaments in the Simpson basement. We still played board games, of course, but we also began to talk with each other, study with each other, and be there for each other during the semester’s inevitable stresses.
Former freshmen misfits, we are now a hearty group of juniors, and we’ve grown closer than ever. We celebrate birthdays once a month with a home-cooked meal, and now that a few of the guys have an off-campus house, we spend Saturday nights playing games and chatting around a bonfire.
This friend group isn’t the only one I’ve seen come together. From the band of students who regularly claim a mega-table in the library to the legendary ultimate Frisbee folks who took third place in Homecoming with an independent team, countless groups have emerged. Some friendships form through clubs or teams, others through chance encounters and conversations. Wherever they come from, these friendships serve as valuable foundations for students to lean on throughout their time at Hillsdale. As Noah Schleusener, ’23, says, “It’s nice to meet new people, but it’s also kind of stressful. It’d be really lonely to not have any groups.”
“There’s always people you can rely on to care about you,” Emily Brausch, ’23, agrees. “There’s people who know you and know what you’re going through.”
It’s impossible to predict how friend groups come together, but one thing’s for certain: they do. My freshman self would never have expected to meet the people I spend half my time with these days. So, if you’re looking for friends at Hillsdale, don’t be afraid to embrace chance conversations or even spontaneous Pink Panther piano trios—you might just meet the friends who will stick with you for years to come.
Jenny Wiland, ’23, plans to study psychology and graphic design. She loves her cat, dark chocolate, and writing stories, especially science fiction and fantasy.
Published in December 2021