how to make friends at this school
hi everyone this is LWK A RANT but i feel like posting this here would help somehow since i dont rly have anyone to talk abt this w
ive been struggling to maintain friendships let alone make friends since my first year here. i am now reaching the end of my second year, and with my third year approaching i cant seem to find much optimism in my upcoming experience as a third year
my main issue is the fact that im studying computer engineering, and im not the smartest person in the room especially at an institution like ucla, but having to go to class and then go straight home and work on course work without really saying much to anyone is really weighing on me mentally and its beginning to weight in academically.
i did meet a lot of people my freshman year, and although i do make the effort to try and meet with them, talk to them, or even establish plans, people seem to be way too invested in their own obligations or already established cliques to consider my offers of friendship.
“try joining a club” as many say. unfortunately i did try going to clubs and getting to know people, however, as an engineering student i wish to join an engineering club to gain a variety of experiences in my field. but unfortunately these clubs tend to be over saturated and competitive. i have trouble with these environments in the clubs and end up dropping them for the quarter and then repeating the process the next.
im apartmenting as a second year, and i am also not from the socal area so i dont have a car. this probably could be the cause as well but the fact that so many people have established cliques so early on makes it hard for me to integrate myself in
i hate having to meet new people just for them to forget about me especially at a school as big as ucla
overall i just feel really lonely and mental troubles such as this have been weighing on me since freshman year, and it seems that it will be snowballing into my third year
i just want a friend group who i can study with, be close with, make memories with, and be myself with without having to put in extensive effort just to have their attention or consideration. i hate knowing everyone but no one really caring about me, and i just wish i had genuine connections with other people
anyways for those who read this i appreciate it, and for those going through something similar i hope to have helped to provide some kind of comfort despite this post being mostly negative
EDIT: i also like dont drink or party lwk ever i never was much if a party person and i dont like the idea of drinking or doing drugs an stuff like that but yea ik its pretty common for people to do when socializing im just not really about that