Sydney Life

You meet a lot of new people at uni. A lot. There are so many opportunities to make friends and you may hear this from many of us bloggers. Simon’s post on it is interesting, though I have to say he may be denying himself some opportunities when he rejects outing invitations claiming he’s already scheduled to do work. Homework. On a Monday night. In Week 3. Scheduled.

Nevertheless, to help you begin to understand the vast number of people you meet, get to know, and see, on a regular basis or not, I’ve developed a hierarchy. Here goes...

Regular Meeting Friends
At the top of the list there are your Regular Meeting Friends. For me this is a few of my friends from high school, and a few psych buddies I picked up at the science transition day (not as nerdy as it sounds!). These are the kids I’ll actually plan to meet up with outside of uni, and also have penned into my own timetable.

Random lecture, tute and lab buddies
These are the ones that you haven’t gotten to know very well, or don’t really really like from what you have gotten to know, or, have totally rejected any out of uni contact that you have attempted to initiate (you know who you are...), possibly hinting at the fact that they have not enjoyed your hilarious banter and all-round fun-ness as much as you had thought. In fact, one of my better RLTALBs moved unis at the end of first semester, and I’m trying hard not to take it personally.

People from your old high / primary school
Around 60% of my grade came to Sydney Uni, so around every corner I see one...which is sweet, of course.

Friends of friends and friends of friends of friends
This is the last level of friendship in which you’re expected to have a vague recollection of the person’s name, though it does get hard at times. You only see them around randomly and it all gets kind of awkward when there are um ... relations of the brief and intimate variety involved.

People you don't know how you know, but you recognise their face
I usually feel bad when I bump into these people since I can’t remember their name, but an interesting thing happened at Manning a few weeks ago; when lining up at the bar I saw a guy that I recognised and we both immediately exclaimed, “hey, where do I know you from?!” Fun times. Later on that night I recognised someone else wearing the same shirt as him (“Wasted”: definition...) but one of my friends kindly pointed out that it was actually the same guy and that perhaps it would be more appropriate for me to be wearing said item of clothing.

Closer to the bottom of the list would be people you see around all the time, but can’t acknowledge because you’re not sure if they know you, or you can’t remember whether you’ve ever talked to them before or if they’re just a regular in Manning Theatresports. I end up walking past them, attempting a half smile and wave that can be passed off as a stifled yawn and lazy stretch if they happen to completely bar me.

I suppose the lowest on the friendship chain would be the people who come up to you when you’re with your friends, have a decent enough chat, and when they’re gone everyone is at a complete loss as to who they are, and were all assuming that they were someone else’s friend. This has happened.

So, you get the picture. Uni is full of great people, waiting to be met!