GEORgia nelson

LONeliness

Lonely is a word I use to describe my first year at Western. I’m a twin, so I spent the first 17 years of my life with someone glued to my side – my built in best friend. When university came, I chose Western while my brother, and most of my friends, chose Queen’s. For the first time in my life, I was alone. I had trouble making friends– the first clubs I joined I didn’t meet people and I went to classes by myself. Plus, there is nothing more isolating than being alone in an 800 person class. I spent most days and nights alone in my room, only feeling like I could breathe when I got off-campus. I would call my brother and friends and listen to their fantastic university experiences, while I pretended that I wasn’t crying on the other line. I felt I couldn’t reach out about how I felt as I didn’t want to ruin their fun with my burdens. So I stayed silent. It was only after the fact that I found out that my friends, who I thought were having amazing times, were struggling too. All it took was breaking the wall and starting the conversation. Despite what I thought, admitting you are having a hard time is not being a burden. It took me until partway through second year to feel happy and feel that I had a place at Western. Keep putting yourself out there and be patient, the right people and experiences will come around. Loneliness can be suffocating but just one conversation or a smile can change someone’s day.