It Really is Just a Picture.
November 6, 2023
Writer: Bella Goldberg
Editor: Alena Miklosovic
My Sunday night routine has always consisted of lying in bed for hours, scrolling through my social media before actually falling asleep. I didn’t expect this routine to change when I went away to college. But the first Sunday night of my freshman year, I laid down in bed for the night and ended up feeling upset rather than relaxed
I was scrolling through Instagram and saw everyone posting their welcome week photo dumps. This caused immediate panic. To my eyes, I saw what I believed to be everyone's permanent friend groups. They had made their “forever” friends. I was overwhelmed, feeling confused how they had formed so many friendships after being at college for only five days. While I was spending time with people who felt more like acquaintances and not enough like those relationships I had perceived in those pictures. I felt lonely.
Everyone looked so happy and settled. How does everyone have so many friends? Why was I not feeling the same way? I thought that this was it for me, I would never make friendships like the ones I saw portrayed on Instagram. The pictures made these girls look like they have known each other forever as they were hugging each other like I did with my best friends at home.
The first couple of weeks in a new environment is something that no one can fully prepare you for. I thought I was ready for this brand-new start with all new people. But I was still scared. No matter how much I was looking forward to this new phase of my life, there was still such a sense of uncertainty. No one could have prepared me for how nervous I would be that first week of school while it seemed that everyone else around me had no problems settling in and finding friends right away.
As time went on and I started to feel a little more comfortable in my environment, I found myself surrounded by people who felt the same sense of uncertainty as I did. This helped me because I now knew I was not alone in this big change in my life. We would talk about the social media posts and it was comforting to know that we had these same thoughts circling our minds. Making close friends just comes slower for some people, so we thought. I would talk to more and more people who all understood exactly how I was feeling. I felt so alone in the beginning, but I wasn't. Everyone was feeling this way, some people just did not want to show what they were feeling, and wanted to portray themselves like they had it all figured out on social media.
Despite feeling so lonely and uncertain my first week of school, I have found my friends. Just at my own pace. Things will come when they are meant to be.
In reality, everyone who was posting about their “forever friends” was putting on a facade. They want to put on a certain social media presence to make them look a certain way. To show their following that they have this amazing college life already figured out within a couple days of being there. Most people are feeling scared and nervous while settling into a new environment. These pictures are not a true depiction of how these people are feeling behind the camera. If you are feeling alone, just know you are not. Most likely everyone around you is feeling the same way.
Because in Reality, It really is just a picture.
