Graduate school is different than college in so many ways. One of the biggest differences is making friends—particularly when you move to a different city. When graduating college, one of the biggest worries that haunted me was how I would make friends in the real world. That worry especially bothered me when I considered that I was moving to Portland to go to graduate school and would be away from not just my college friends but my friends and family from home too. I have never been a social butterfly and prefer a peaceful hermit lifestyle, but I still wanted to make a couple of friends.

And by miracle of miracles, I managed to make a couple of friends upon moving to Portland. Most of them I met through the publishing program here at Ooligan. This is simply because we have a common interest, books. We all joined this program because we are interested in books, and that interest always gives us something to talk about. Luckily, there are books on every subject out there and many, many books at that. We cannot only talk about the books that all of us have read but talk about recommendations and what we have heard about other books.

Because moving to a different city is terrifying, it was nice to be involved in a program that gave us a common interest and also focused on teamwork, therefore giving us more chances to talk about books. The only way to actually make friends in a city where you know nobody is to start talking. Talking to new people terrifies me, and it took a lot for me to get past that. Starting graduate school can be terrifying, and friends are the only thing that can help a person through that. Particularly if they are in the same program. We can discuss classes and ask each other for help and support. And more importantly, I have found people to watch musicals with and sing showtunes with.