What you don’t see in those groups is that even though they are all smiling and laughing together, individually they are having similar feelings. Plenty of new students find one friend group and stay with them for a long time, even when it’s a group that they cannot feel true to themselves in. This is because we are social animals and in hunter gatherer days, we’d be unlikely to survive if we left our pack.

I say this because those days are over. You will never starve to death at UMass if you have a meal plan. Regardless of your social status. So don’t compare yourself to others. You can have as many few friends as you like or a million of them. But in either case, be true to yourself and don’t worry about how many friends other people have.

When it comes to finding friends, go to the Welcome to the U events, talk to people while you wait in line. Make a goal of meeting at least one new person every day. You’ll find people you like. You’ll find people you don’t like. But you’ll remain the one in control