{"id":26014,"date":"2015-10-26T09:28:26","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T13:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=26014"},"modified":"2015-10-23T14:32:35","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T18:32:35","slug":"showing-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2015\/10\/26\/showing-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Showing Up"},"content":{"rendered":"In my last post, I talked about how just showing up to things can have a huge impact on your happiness, and can ward of feelings of homesickness and loneliness while you\u2019re away on exchange. I thought that idea deserved its own post because, well\u2026it\u2019s much easier said than done.\r\n\r\nSince being on exchange, I couldn\u2019t even tell you how many Facebook events I\u2019ve clicked \u201cattending\u201d on, and then chickened out at the last minute. On clubs day during Frosh week, I signed up for every club imaginable, got on their email lists so I wouldn\u2019t miss any news about upcoming events, and told myself that being on exchange would be different \u2013 I really, truly would get involved in clubs and societies!\r\n\r\n
\"Mementos<\/a>
Mementos from events that I finally started going to!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nFlash forward a few weeks, and the emails and Facebook invites about upcoming events started rolling in. I wrote them all down in my calendar, RSVPed on Facebook, and had every intention of going. But some excuse always came up, and I hardly ever went. You know what I\u2019m talking about \u2013 you get an invitation to an awesome-sounding event, you tell yourself you are 100% in and ready to go, but then the day of the event rolls around and you just have to<\/em> spend the evening having a Netflix marathon with your friends.\r\n\r\nSome events were things that I wouldn\u2019t have been interested in (i.e. I signed up for a knitting club, but have no desire to knit, and I don\u2019t even know how), but there are other things that I wish I had made the effort to show up to. There are a seemingly endless number of societies and clubs at the University of Edinburgh, and lots of them have events that cater to exchange and international students. They were running tours of the city, trips to cities around Scotland, pub nights, and other activities that I knew I wanted to be a part of.\r\n\r\nSo why is it so hard to show up? If there are so many great, fun things going on for people on exchange, why can it feel so hard to go? I asked some of my fellow exchange student friends about why this can be so hard, and we came up with two reasons.\r\n\r\nReason # 1: You\u2019re out of practice. Most people who go on exchange haven\u2019t had to go to events and try to make new friends in a long time. Frosh week at our home university was a long time ago for us, and we\u2019re used to having an established group of friends and activities that we do. It\u2019s a weird experience to have to start building that all over again.\r\n\r\nReason # 2: You think it\u2019ll be awkward. And, let\u2019s be honest, it probably will be a little bit. But all of us agreed that the awkwardness never lasts, and it\u2019s never as bad as your excuse-making brain tells you it will be. Plus, everyone else is in the same boat as you \u2013 no one knows anyone, everyone\u2019s a little bit tense, but everyone also wants to make friends and have fun.\r\n\r\n
\"Bonus<\/a>
Bonus of showing up: you usually get to go on some cool adventures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nSo now that you know why you find it hard to show up, what\u2019s my advice? Embrace the awkwardness and start showing up to everything<\/em> you can. I know, I know, it\u2019s easier said than done. But taking the first plunge makes every time after that a million times easier. After going to just one awkward pub night, I felt like I had my friend-making, event-attending groove back. And chances are, something will stick, and you\u2019ll make a breakthrough \u2013 you\u2019ll find an activity you love, or a club you really want to be a part of, and hopefully some good friends. And if not, you\u2019ll get some good stories out of it, which is one of the major fringe benefits of being on exchange.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\nIn my last post, I talked about how just showing up to things can have a huge impact on your happiness, and can ward of feelings of homesickness and loneliness while you\u2019re away on exchange. I thought that idea deserved…\n<\/div>
Continue reading “Showing Up”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
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