I Hate the Hook-Up/Drinking Culture at my school

baktrax
Tue, 30 Jul 2013 22:00:28 +0000

I get that you don’t necessarily feel comfortable proposing trip ideas and that the idea of stepping outside of your comfort zone is intimidating. But if you’re really unhappy with the environment that you are in now, then that’s what you have to do. You have to step outside of yourself and invite others to do things. The only other option, really, is to just carry on the way you’ve been going, and hope that something else happens. It helps if you do things that you would enjoy but that lend themselves to conversation topics in and of themselves. Going to the movies or concerts are great, because you don’t necessarily have to talk that much, and then afterwards, you have a built in conversation topic. Going somewhere specific (like a museum, aquarium, or something like that) or doing some sort of specific activity (I’ve found that going paintballing certainly lends itself to built in conversation topics) can help, so you don’t feel pressured to make idle chit-chat. If you like ice skating and someone in your friend group doesn’t know how to ice skate, it can be fun for the rest of you to teach them (at least in my experience).

What about your friend group? Are they interested in doing things other than partying during the weekends? I get that you’re shy and don’t feel comfortable proposing things, but confidence and comfort with groups comes with time and practice.