Quick chats and lasting connections

If you’re like me and have only heard of speed dating, you’re probably thinking, “How is speed friending any different from speed dating?”

Instead of trying to get to know someone in a romantic sense quickly, UNC Asheville’s Health and Counseling department put together an event during Weeks of Welcome to help people make friends.  

Whether you’re a freshman learning your way around campus or a continuing student looking to expand your friend group, there was something in it for everyone.

How does speed friending work?

“It offers a low-stakes opportunity to make friends,” said Clinical Director of Health and Counseling Katie Green. “Speed friending is all about one after the other connections.”

Pairs sat across from each other, one side of the table was “Person A” and the other “Person B,” both with a paper in front of them with questions to get to know each other.

While it wasn’t necessary to use those questions, they were fun icebreaker questions from the most unusual thing you’ve eaten to if you could do the week differently, what would you change. 

According to Green, it gives new and returning students a chance to connect with others.

“It’s kind of a funny thing to do,” Green said.

The event was created post-Hurricane Helene to boost morale, and with how popular it was, Speed Friending was brought back for the spring semester and again for fall, she said.

What did I expect?

Not much, honestly. 

I went to Alumni Hall with more than a little bit of skepticism. How many people would show up? Will this even be fun? Is it going to be really awkward? 

I was shocked to see the amount of people who showed up, students gathered outside the hall waiting to be invited in. I was not originally planning on being a part of the event, and at first I went around just taking pictures, seeing the interactions throughout the room.

Two long, large tables had students paired up with the person across from them, some eagerly chatting with those around them, others patiently waiting for instruction from the host on how this all worked.

After quite a few four-minute rounds, they realized there was an uneven number of participants, as a few students showed up late, and I was asked to join. I figured I might as well join to see what it’s all about and I was sticking around anyway.

I sat down on Person A’s side, so I sat in my seat for a few rounds as new people moved to me. I was lacking the question sheet until the second-to-last round, so I honestly just did what I do best– yap.

Talking with new and continuing students, I learned a lot about students I would never have spoken to, either from a lack of classes in common or just me being naturally introverted.

We were encouraged to get the socials or contact information of those we talked to if we clicked, and I was shocked to actually get a few social media accounts of people I talked to. 

Do events like this actually help students make friends?

“As a high school freshman, I barely knew anybody. I had no real friends,” said freshman Kody Flinn. “I feel like events like this really help out people who need that extra boost.”

According to an Insider Higher Ed. Student Voices survey, extracurriculars and campus events involvement is correlated with increased satisfaction with campus engagement.

According to the Weeks of Welcome team, UNC Asheville has a multitude of events that do just that. With events such as Rockypalooza, Tuesday Trivia, and Speed Friending, students are able to go out of their comfort zones and meet new people. 

“It’s for everybody,” Flinn said. “You can never have too many friends.”

Did I enjoy the event?

While it is something I would not normally do, I can admit that it was pretty fun. I’ve always been intrigued by speed dating, but I would never do something like that because a connection is important to me, so this was a good opportunity to do something like that but more up my alley.

Everyone who knows me will tell you that I love to talk, even my mother used to tell me to give myself a break – I’m assuming because I drove her crazy – so getting to talk to different people about their interests, majors and the various answers to the different questions we could ask was very fun.