I transferred here my freshman year. This could have been a sad tale of how I never made any friends, but it isn’t. I came to Southern with an established friend group that I was able to grow. However, that doesn’t change that Southern has a pretty cliquish culture.
I don’t blame anyone for this. It’s a product of the environment that most of us were brought up in. Four large academies, Georgia Cumberland Academy, Collegedale Academy, Greater Miami Academy and Forest Lake Academy, have that culture (sidebar: I’ve only heard these things about all of them except FLA. FLA was where I went, and it was like that.)
I have stuck with the same core friend group throughout college. I’m dating my highschool sweetheart. I haven’t ventured out much because I haven’t needed to. Of course I have work friends, friends from Life Group and friends within my major, but I don’t go out of my way to meet new people because I’m comfortable.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is bad if the cliques that we are a part of become exclusive and unwelcoming. Ignoring people who are trying to talk to you is bad. Making someone feel like they don’t belong or fit in around you is bad. There is no reason to make someone feel lonely.
I don’t think established friend groups need to seek people out to join them, but I do think that we have the social responsibility to welcome people who want to be friends with us. Will those friendships last? I don’t know. Mine have. I broke into cliques when I transferred to FLA as a sophomore, and those friendships have grown over the past six years.
Southern, let’s make a commitment to cherishing our current friendships and being open to new people who want to be friends with us. Who knows, maybe you’ll be really glad you opened up.