Friends make a drastic difference in a student’s high school experience. Looking around the cafeteria and various classrooms, there appear to be lonely people at Lewis High School in need of friends to their lives easier. 

As a transfer student, myself, from South County High School, I know how hard it is to make friends. What made it even harder for me was having to transfer right before my senior year when I had barely even made friends in my previous school because I didn’t want to get out of my comfort zone. Then came the pandemic, which made me more terrible at talking to people than I already am.

It’s hard to make friends when moving to a new school. Why is that? Sophomore Natalie Ly, who has attended Lewis for both years but has experienced moving to another school before, shared her insights at to why it’s hard to make friends when moving to a new school.

“I think it is difficult to make new friends because you are unused to the community there. Each school has its own individual students and groups and sometimes it may feel like you are left out because everyone knows each other, and you don’t know anyone,” Ly said.

A Lewis senior who goes by “Den” moved here from a high school in the Philippines during his sophomore year and initially experienced difficulty adjusting to his new school environment.

“Moving to a place you don’t know what will the environment will be or the types of people you will encounter will definitely make you feel anxious and shy at first, but as you learn the culture of your new school, you will slowly be comfortable to talk to new people and make new friends.” Den said.

Ly offers students tips for making friends, acknowledging that people tend to get scared of making new friends because they’re anxious about going up to others.

“Keep in mind that they are human just like you are. At the end of the day, they are just like you, so why should you be afraid of going up to them? You should especially make friends with people who have common interests as you because it helps create more conversations while starting our new friendships.”

Ly also recommends that it’s really important to be yourself. It’s the way to filter out fake friends. Keeping that fake personality will not only hurt you but also your friend. Not only is it tiresome, it’s also annoying to know that you have to act in a certain way when you are around that friend.

“Just be yourself. If you are fake with others, it’ll be exhausting keeping up the façade. If people aren’t accepting of who you are, they aren’t good friends anyway. You should be friends with people who lift you up and support you for being yourself,” Ly said.

Maintaining friendship is easy if the feeling is mutual. “Maintaining friendship is a two way thing. If one person doesn’t want to maintain the friendship, it’ll eventually fall apart anyway. You should sort out your problems with each other together instead of fighting each other. You should remember that all friendships have their ups and downs and it’s okay to take breaks once in a while. If both of you guys want the friendship to work, then it’ll work out,” Ly said. 

Problems in a friendship sometimes can help people understand each other better. Dealing with these misunderstandings is also a way to show that you care for each other. “It’s important to give them space if they want to or you think they need it but don’t leave them in their toughest time and help them to get through their problems and be there to comfort them,” Den said. 

I’ve had more friends here than in all three years at my previous school. The students at Lewis High School are just friendlier and more sociable.

It’s important to note that talking to people is the only way to build a friendship. If you don’t want to talk to people, you can still make friends but it will be hard.

Talk to people! Who knows; maybe the person sitting next to you will be your best friend?