When University of Wisconsin-Madison freshman Elana Meulemans first came to campus in the fall, making friends felt easy. But by spring, without the same on-campus offerings, fostering new friendships wasn’t so simple.
“I think that spring makes it a lot harder to connect with others due to the lack of friction in school activities,” Meulemans said. “It’s important then to keep your connections from the fall semester.”
For many freshmen like Meulemans, the difficulty comes from the sense that social circles have already been formed, and by the spring, there aren’t the same opportunities to meet new people. While the fall semester came with orientation events, new faces and a shared sense of new beginnings, the spring can seem quieter and, for some, isolating…