Facebook: a great new way to connect with future classmates
"You're Tina, right?" "You're Tina from Facebook!" These two quotes are examples of things I heard during O-Week and the first week of class. I, too, was guilty of thinking or saying a variation of these quotes. I was familiar with some faces on campus even before traditional face-to-face meetings had taken place.
The beginning of college brings forth a completely different environment. Separated from their usual group of friends in high school, new students navigate into a new social realm and have to interact with people they know virtually nothing about. Or, at least, that used to be the case.
In the months leading up to matriculation, I got some friend requests from my future classmates and advisors. The first time this occurred, I felt strange because I don't accept friend requests from people I don't know in person. I thought to myself: "Adding them doesn't feel right because I don't know them, but not adding them doesn't feel right either because what if they take it personally?" However, I decided to abandon my rule and try something new. The Rice community is a safe one, after all, and I was going to be with these people for the next few years, so why not? I even sent one or two requests myself.
When I finally met my Rice Facebook friends in person, I felt a certain level of comfort. The usual amount of awkwardness that comes with meeting someone new was less (although, I should mention, not completely erased) because we already knew some things about each other, even if it was just me knowing they liked musical theater or singing, or them knowing I love the Olympics and owls. It was easier to converse, as we were not truly strangers. A lot of the pressure was gone, and in its place was ease. Perhaps the best part was my advisors really getting a good snapshot of me as a person. They truly embodied my interests when making my O-Week pin, which included a picture of an elegant owl, Usain Bolt and the Olympic rings on it, symbolizing my numerous Olympic-related statuses on Facebook and photos of anything related to owls.
I have yet to meet everyone at Rice who I am Facebook friends with, and I only "know" some people from the Rice Class of 2016 group,by meeting them in person, not by Facebook friending them. Nevertheless, I feel that having class groups on Facebook is beneficial and necessary. In addition to exposure to their future peers, new students can ask questions, learn about different aspects of the school and see they are not the only ones who will soon start new lives as college students. If new students go a step beyond the class page and become Facebook friends with each other, they can arrive on campus in August relieved that they at least know a few people. Residential college O-Week and O-Week group pages help strengthen the advisor-advisee relationship, which is a special bond to have here at Rice. Advisors already know a lot about their new students by move-in day.
Class groups should be available for every matriculating class, and new students should not shy away from hitting the "send friend request" or "confirm" button. More often than not, great things can arise from it.
Tina Nazerian is a McMurtry College freshman.
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