Making New Friends in a New City

What’s the best thing about New York City so far? Friends. There were a lot of things that freaked me out about graduating college. Paying my own rent, not being able to use campus meal points when my checking account is low, and, believe it or not, never taking a test again all terrified me. But the scariest part was the thought of not seeing my best friends every single day. Since sophomore year, I’ve lived with the same group and, during senior year when we couldn’t fit in the same two-story building, we lived on the same street. But when my friends started to find jobs, it became clear that everyone was heading to the same place—New York City. 

Probably 85 percent of my college friends ended up in New York, even the ones who were still unemployed. But, hey, Frank Sinatra claims if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere, so why not jump in headfirst? Having my friends in New York has really made the transition so much smoother. Obviously, it’s not the same as college. I can’t ransack multiple closets when I hate all my clothes or fall asleep in my friend’s bed and leave before class in the morning. But since my friends are in the city, we are still able to preserve those sacred Saturday morning recaps of the night before, meet up for a quick dinner after work, and, best of all, find better ways to spend our Sunday’s than in the library. 

Since I’m originally from Connecticut, another great thing about being in New York is that many of my high school friends moved here too. Being away from them for four years and now, being reunited, makes living in the city feel like home. There’s comfort in knowing the girls I grew up with have also grown up and we all ended up in the same place again. But we’re not confused and vulnerable high school freshman but determined college grads discovering what we want in relationships, work, and life. Not only is having their support great, I also get to meet new people through them. My hometown friends have their college friends and I have mine who then have outside friends and it just keeps expanding, making for weekends that are never boring.

The security of having people I know all around me is awesome but it’s also exciting to meet new people, make new friends, and, like when you first start college, step a little out of your comfort zone.