Publications
Advice from A Formerly Lonely College Student The New York Times
“Transitions are always hard — regardless of your age. But the social expectations around college put overwhelming pressure on students to fit in seamlessly into their campus, without truly acknowledging the difficulty of uprooting your life and starting fresh. The hardest thing to tell struggling freshmen is that acclimation takes time — and “thriving” even longer. Making friends is an active process, and all the preconceived ideas college students arrive with can make for a defeating experience. Understand that your loneliness is not failure, and that you are far from being alone in this feeling. Open your mind and take experiences as they come.”
Read more here.
Riding Solo: Heading to College Solo Brit + Co
“All of these factors became rather overwhelming throughout my first semester. For a while, I didn’t know if I would ever find my place or my people at my new school. Since I'd had the same social circle since freshman year of high school, I was pretty rusty at the whole “making new friends” thing, and I immediately felt lost and frustrated. It felt like people around me were making friends so easily, while I couldn’t get past the “Where are you from?” stage. I didn’t fully get along with a lot of people I met, and the surface-level exchanges left me feeling homesick for the relationships I was already missing.”
Read more here.
I Was Lonely At An Ivy League School Psycom
“My work was never meant to solve student loneliness, and not intended to speak for every experience. It comes from a single experience—and highlights what personal steps I took to rationalize my own discomfort—and how to approach my social life more healthily. Nothing I wrote or created was ever meant to be a pity party or a call to arms, but if there is a message I want people to leave with it’s that students are valid in their loneliness—regardless of identity or background. A student’s transition to college is a massive life change and it’s normal to feel out of place.”
Read more here.
Articles I Was Interviewed For: