Friends, plural?

My start to college wasn’t easy. I arrived at Miami University as a heartbroken, naive first-year student, eager to experience life outside of my suburban Wisconsin hometown, but in no way prepared to feel as alone in the world as I suddenly did.

It didn’t take long to realize I wasn’t going to remain close with any of my high school friends, that my dream of becoming best friends with my roommate wasn’t going to happen or that my utter disinterest in going out made it hard to fit in with what seemed like the majority of the students at this university.

By the time fall break rolled around, I found myself crying and calling my mom from the top of a mountain — I’d gone on a hiking trip with the Outdoor Pursuits Center — telling her I wanted to come home and “quit college” (That idea was vetoed. My dad was instead sent to Oxford to keep me company, where he and I lived out of a hotel room at the Marcum Conference Center for a week. Thanks, dad!)

The first time I went home, everyone wanted to know the same thing: “Are you having fun? Do you have a lot of friends? Meet any boys?” No, no and definitely no.

The fact that I hadn’t made a friend was something I was very aware of. What was I doing wrong? It’s not that I wasn’t involved on campus; I had joined the design and photography teams at The Miami Student and was part of a creativity organization that met on Wednesdays.

I knew lots of people, but I didn’t feel connected to any of them. For the first time in my life, there was not a single person in the world I considered my friend.

I started to joke about it. Whenever anyone would ask about college, I would casually respond with “I have no friends.” At least watching people have no idea how to respond was amusing.

I finally met my best friend at the beginning of sophomore year, and life got significantly better. Lindsay Stevenson and I met at church and immediately clicked. She asked if I wanted to live with her the following year about five minutes into our first conversation, and the rest is history.

The joke changed. “I have no friends” became “I have one, singular friend!” The wording is different, but it’s still something I say lightly to this day.

As a junior, I became more involved in The Student. I quit my other organization and started attending print nights every other Wednesday instead. I became the art director of The Miami Student Magazine, and I have even attended a few newspaper parties.

Eventually, I realized how much I looked forward to those Wednesday nights. I began to stay for the entirety of each six-hour production, despite my spread usually being finished within the first few hours. Being surrounded by so much energy was fulfilling.

About a month ago, Lindsay and I stood in the kitchen of our off-campus apartment, joking with each other about how college would’ve been had we not found each other.

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“We’d have no friends,” she said.

“Not that we do now,” I joked. “Friends is plural.”

A few hours later, I walked into Armstrong Student Center. It was Wednesday, and I was ready for another print production night. As I rounded the corner to the newsroom, several people saw me through the large glass windows, their eyes widening in excitement as I stepped inside.

“Caitlin’s here!”

“Caitlin!”

“Hi, Caitlin!”

The text I sent Lindsay said, “I just walked into a room and like 10 people said some variation of hi to me all at once.”

Then, a slow grin spread across my face, the irony of our conversation from earlier hitting me. My joke wasn’t true anymore. I did have friends, plural. Every single person in this room was my friend, and they had been for a while.

So, thank you to The Student. Thank you for giving me the most wonderful group of college friends I ever could have asked for.

@caitlindominski

dominscj@miamioh.edu

Caitlin Dominski is a senior studying emerging technology in business and design and communication design. She is one of the art directors of The Miami Student Magazine, on the design and photography teams at The Student and a layout designer for UP Magazine.