Cheers to new friends

Last Friday night, I watched the first half of Knives Out with two new first-year friends. This past Friday, after another outdoor Shabbat dinner, we pushed apart couches in the rec room and watched the second hour with two more friends. I’d already seen the movie, which I highly recommend (it was filmed in Wellesley!), and I had such a good time seeing it again. When it ended, we sat around, masked and separated, and somehow I ended up recounting the most dramatic events of my sixth grade year to friends I’ve only known for a few weeks. 

This is my second year at Wellesley. I have friends from crew, from class, and from my dorm last year, whose company I love. But I’ve also met so many others. The first-years I’ve encountered have been happy to chat and ask my name. Some other sophomores seem more closed off, already settled into friend groups. But there are 1,200 students on campus this semester, and I only know a fraction of them. There are so many new names to learn, stories to listen to, interests to bond over. I’ve been spending a lot of time with new friends: biking to Weston for ice cream and Needham for Trader Joe’s; watching a movie and chatting in the Shafer basement; playing guitar and singing Taylor Swift’s song Betty until our fingers are frozen. Over dining hall lunches and dinners, I’ve been getting to know my old Shafer friends better. Maddie and I painted with watercolors outside on the Quad. Caroline and I always talk about books. 

Dinner and watercolors with Maddie

Wellesley is full of great people and so much love. I love my friends, but I’d hate to get to senior year and suddenly click with someone who’d been here all along, just on the other side of a quick “hey, do you want to get lunch?” This could happen, and it’d still be great, but having solid friendships is no reason to stop making new ones. 

Non-dairy pumpkin soft serve with Catie and Adeline! That was enough to make my day, but then I found $20 in the road on the bike ride back.

 

Your weekly Tootsie photo

 

Skip to toolbar