The buzz and whir of life at the University -- cell phones ringing, personal planners abound, students walking and talking at a mile a minute. Smart, busy, involved and social -- yes folks, we do it all. Surrounded by this constant motion, it's hard not to take advantage of 13,000 of the nation's best and brightest. And that we do -- whether it's Sunday through Wednesday at hot spot Club Clemons or kicking off the weekend Thursday night when 'dry student' is an oxymoron.
Thus the dilemma arises -- gaining a diverse array of friends (of whom mixing may prove disastrous) and maintaining these relationships with limited time.
Second-year College student Ian Macdonald said he consciously tries to expand his social group beyond his fraternity brothers.
"I spend so much time hanging out in the house and seeing the brothers I live with," Macdonald said. "It's important to make times to see guys I wouldn't see otherwise, one's that aren't in the same social circle."
After accounting for classes, homework and numerous extracurricular activities, University students are left with limited blocks of time for squeezing in a social life. It may be convenient to hang out with many friends at once. This set-up, however, may not always be a viable option -- your friends, although yours, may not be friends with each other. Consequently, throwing them together could be potentially awkward at best and a heinous ruckus at worst.
Second-year College student Katie Cunningham has had some experience in this area.
"There have definitely been some uncomfortable times when two people you consider best friends from different aspects of your life don't get along," Cunningham said. "Sometimes they can be possessive and you're left in an awkward position of trying not to favor one friend over the other, and everyone ends up unhappy in the end."
And so, if presented with a disagreeably heterogeneous group, one may need to find a time and place for each individual friendship.
"You're just not all going to be in the same place, so you've got to make time and see them in different places and in the activities you both have in common," Macdonald said.
Although this arrangement may mean seeing friends less frequently, quality versus quantity seems to be what's important.
Seeing friends less often is especially integral to the life of transfer students, who now sustain an increasing list of friends from high school, their former college and the University.
Second-year College student Stephanie Beck transferred to the University last semester from Washington and Lee College. For Beck, maintaining friendships requires a mutual understanding.
"Low pressure friendships are key," Beck said. "I've found that with my true friends, there's no pressure to talk everyday. We always call when there's something important, but there's no pressure to maintain a constant closeness."
But not having this constant closeness leaves some people with the fear of friends forgetting, not caring and even moving on.
Beck, however, said she found solace from the support of her sorority at W&L and the fact that there also is an active chapter here.
"The fear of people moving on without you is tough, but my best friends ended up my sisters and because W&L is so close it's easy to go back and forth and keep constant contact," she said. "And here, I've found being in a sorority helped because it gives you an instant bond."
Although transferring schools could also mean transferring friends, Beck said she doesn't feel like this is the case.
"I don't see the really good friendships fading at all, because when it comes down to it, it's really the quality that counts," she said.
Entering a new semester, many first-years have gained a surplus of newfound Greek sisters and brothers, while forth-years lament the approaching end of their time at the University and the varying and distant paths to follow. But despite changes, time limitations and differing interests, the wise old Girl Scout song still rings true: "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold"
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