It’s the feeling of going to an event and leaving early because no one you know is there. It’s missing your sister’s soccer championship game because you couldn’t find a ride home in time. It’s dinner without conversation, every, single, day.
There is a group on Facebook that has been created to battle the problem of not knowing who to hang with on campus with the first year student’s troubles in mind. It’s called Plymouth State Friends Revolution, and the purpose is to provide a place where students that are looking to meet new people can connect with each other. It has evolved into a community of 87 people and is still growing.
It was originally created in September of this year. Jake Nawn was one of several founders of the group.
David Walker, a freshman majoring in political science, created the page with his account and wrote the information for the group’s bio. The page started with a simple goal in mind as.
“Everybody’s so social in the first couple of days of college. Everybody’s trying to find their group of friends. We wanted to try to make as many [friends] as possible. And me, coming from a small town I wanted to meet as many as possible,” said Walker.
The great thing about this group is that it’s open to students from any year. It is entirely based on the sense of a community where everyone can help each other, even in small ways.
“It’s gotten me more friends than I had last year right off the bat,” said sophomore Evan Rathburn.
“We use it if you’re going to lunch and you can’t necessarily contact anybody on your phone, you say ‘Hey, let’s go to lunch!’ on the Friends Revolution page and someone will eat with you,” explained Walker.
This page has the potential to make a difference in someone’s freshman year experience. It’s not fun to constantly search for people to meet with. The sad alternative is being alone. With this page there’s now an easy way to find people in the same situation, and others that have been there and know what it’s like.
When asked about what the benefits are to joining the group Walker said, “I’ve made a lot of friends out of the group. Just talking to people and saying, ‘Hey, are you on Friends Revolution?’ and they’ll be like, ‘Yeah, I’ve heard about it.’ so it’s a good conversation starter.”
“When you’re a part of it, and you post on it and get good feedback from people it kinda gives you a sense of feeling important. So, I like what it does in that sense, not just for me but for others.”
Although it may not seem obvious when walking around campus by yourself, there are plenty of people on Plymouth State Friends Revolution who are looking to help out fellow students who may not know many people yet. As word continues to spread about the purpose of this site it’s possible there could be a day when no one would have to eat alone.