Freshman continues futile quest to make friends
By Sarah Wolper
After nearly a year at UNC-Chapel Hill, freshman Jordan Weirmann has not given up on his goal of making actual friends.
“Mom always said I was a late bloomer,” Weirmann said in an interview in his Hinton James room at 10 p.m. on a Friday night. “It just takes a little while for me to warm up to people. I’m sure that I’ll have made some friends in no time.”
Weirmann has attempted various ways of seeking friendship at UNC, including befriending his suitemates on Facebook and hanging a dry-erase board on his door for people to leave messages on.
“I got excited when I saw someone had actually written a message on it last week,” Weirmann said. “Turns out it was for [my roommate] Nate [Plukowsky].”
When BoUNCe inquired as to Plukowsky’s whereabouts that night, Weirmann said he was at a Player’s theme night with the rest of the suite.
Weirmann also signed up for a number of clubs months ago at Fallfest in a spirited effort to meet potential friends. He admitted that he has not actually attended any meetings since September, but that he enjoys receiving emails from the listservs.
“They really let me know that I’m part of the group,” Weirmann said, organizing his pencils. “It’s a good feeling.”
According to Dr. Gwen Schiffler of UNC Counseling Services, it is normal for freshmen to have difficulty making new friends.
“Coming to college is a big transition,” Schiffler said. “You’re away from home for the first time, in an entirely new environment. It’s only natural that it will take students a bit of time to adjust and meet new people. Of course, in Jordan’s case, this is just ridiculous. He’s been here, what, eight months? That’s just pathetic. Very often there’s little we can do with such severe cases, because they are clearly depressing losers who are beyond our help.”
Weirmann concluded the interview by asking the BoUNCe interviewers if they would like to stay for a game of Monopoly, but they had a house party to attend.
