How to Make Friends at College: The Scoop of the Decades

From Interviews with Grace Alumni

 The college experience offers you a range of opportunities, from new jobs to discoveries about yourself. But most importantly, it gives you the chance to make foundational friendships that last beyond college. 

Read this blog to learn more about how to make friends at college. The stories of these six Grace alumni offer you a chance to explore the friendships that impacted them, and share how to make friends at college yourself! 

Carol (Woomer) Allebach (BS 75) 

What foundational college friends did you make while at Grace?

I graduated in 1975, and I was part of the 50-Year Golden Grads in May. It was an awesome experience, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of the opportunity when it is their 50-year reunion. There are five of us, a group of college friends that still meet at The BoatHouse once a month; we all started at Grace together. We began meeting a couple of years ago. We are also all the same age and have similar family situations. Our kids are about the same age, so they grew up side by side, too. 

One of us, Dianne Lund, started at Grace and later graduated from Taylor; she passed away in August 2025. Now there are only four of us who meet. We went through freshman orientation together, which was different back then than it is now. 

All of us go to Winona Lake Grace Church (WL). That keeps our friendship alive. We have many other friends from our time at Grace, but we don’t get to see them regularly. One friend, Alice Wallace, lives in Pennsylvania. When she comes back to town, she’ll call or text one of us, and we’ll invite her to lunch or meet up. 

My simple advice to you is that if you want to know how somebody is doing, just talk to them. Today it is so easy to keep in touch using social media: Facebook and Instagram are awesome!

How did you meet these friends? 

Some of them were roommates or suitemates to begin with, and if they weren’t mine, they were the roommate or suitemate of someone I knew. Because all the freshman girls were in Alpha, we mostly got to know each other living in the dorm.

Living with other students is exciting as you transition into adulthood. When you’re in proximity with your peers, you increase your chances of meeting other people. So, in the process of discovering how to make friends at college, pursuing solid friendships with other students in your dorms is a great place to start. 

Do you have any fun stories from college?

Freshman orientation was interesting. On orientation or initiation day, the seniors woke us up early and made us go outside. To show that we were freshmen, they had us put on towels like diapers. We had to have a pacifier and a beanie. Throughout the day, we did what they told us. If they told you to carry their books or get their lunch tray, you did that for one day. 

Joan (Wilson) Harden (BA 89)

What foundational friends did you make while at Grace? 

The Lord provided me with a great roommate my freshman year that I spent all four years with at Grace. Her name was Priscilla Knoble, a missionary kid from Japan. She actually was Alumni of the Year 2025 and I was privileged to celebrate with her this past October during Grace’s Homecoming weekend. Priscilla, myself, and my sophomore year suitemates formed fast friendships that lasted during my whole four years at Grace.

We were in a friend group that included several guy friends and it was great; I had a really solid and good group of college friends with whom I made many forever memories. 

Are you still in touch with them? 

One of the girls in my friend group ended up going to church with me for years, and we’re now in different churches, but we were able to raise our kids side by side. That was really fun. Our kids were in a youth group together and we gardened together. 

I kept in touch with a few friends on social media and Priscilla, who was in Seattle, Washington, came back and visited maybe twice in the last 20 years. 

During my generation, Christmas letters and Facebook were great ways to keep in touch. My friends that were local people were much easier to keep up with.

Staying in touch through social media, or the occasional letter, is a personal way to maintain friendships with the classmates you care about. After college, sending occasional notes to friends demonstrates even throughout the busyness of life, you value what they bring to your life. If you want to know more about how to make friends at college, start investing in the daily life of others around you; it’s the small things that matter. 

David Jones (BS 96, MA 98)

How did you meet your friends at Grace? 

I was in Beta for four years, so I think the consistency there helped. I knew quite a few people coming into Grace as a freshman. My roommate was one of my really close college friends. He was a sophomore at Grace when I was a freshman, so that was easy and helpful. 

Do you have any recommendations for students about how to make friends at college?

If you want to know how to make friends at college: Be intentional. Find ways to go outside of yourself to be involved. Both of my kids are now through school. My daughter went to Grace, and my son went to Cedarville.

I gave them both the same advice their freshman year: ”In the orientation, there’s going to be a lot of goofy games that you may feel are silly, but you need to just dive in, do them, and participate, because that’s where you’re going to meet people.” 

Are there intentional things you do with these friends? 

I stay up with their lives on social media. I try to reach out to them a couple of times a year and touch base to see how they’re doing. 

With our (my wife and my) couple of sets of friends, we try to physically get together with them. We all plan a time to take a vacation and spend four or five days together. That helps us to stay connected, but also gives us activities to do things around too.

Summer (Shipley) Avey (BA 01) 

How did you meet your friends? 

Some of them I met in my freshman year, and I’m still friends with many of the women from my freshman hall. Brandi ‘Raber’ Wright, my sophomore RA and I are still good friends. Her husband Tim was my husband Dean’s freshman RA. He is the Executive Pastor of WL Grace Church. They got married after her junior year, so they’re good friends of ours to this day, and our kids grew up together and are also friends. Another friend from that year that I get to do life with is Mindy ‘Richeson’ Bloomfield, whom I’ve known since 8th grade. 

Our close friends who don’t live here are Jeff and Kari Wike, who live in Fort Wayne, and then Andrew and Elizabeth Saunders (Andy and Liz), who live in Pennsylvania. We have vacationed with them regularly for our whole marriage. Andy works for the Charis Fellowship and has been a pastor, as well. 

The six of us go on a couple’s weekend away from our families nearly every year. It’s always a meaningful time, and we laugh a lot together! That’s one of our closer friendships we’ve maintained. Now we are at the stage in life when we are attending each other’s kids’ weddings and baby showers!

I’m actually still friends with a lot of the people that I met on campus, especially the first couple of years. Facebook helped maintain some of those relationships. Now I get to see their young adult children growing up and coming to Grace College alongside my young adults, becoming friends, and taking trips together.

As you adjust to college life, try to build friendships with your RAs or your growth group leaders, who lead your hall bible study. When you’re learning about how to make friends at college, it’s important to find people who care about you and desire to know you better. Look for people who have common interests and biblical values, who will challenge you to grow in your faith. Have fun together too!

When you were in college, what did you and your friends do together?

In college, I was friends with Liz and Kari, but we weren’t close college friends. I spent more time with Jeff and Andy because we shared classes. Dean, Andy, and Jeff played soccer at Grace for a year. They also shared a common interest, so they did things together. 

The Wikes and Saunders were closer in college because Kari and Liz had education classes that coincided. They were the same year. But it wasn’t until we all were married that we started spending time together as couples. 

We realized we needed to be intentional about getting to know each other’s wives (I was closer to the guys in college) and encourage one another in our marriages. Thankfully, we all get along. We’ve been able to encourage one another through the celebrations in life and the challenges and struggles too, like illnesses and deaths. Faithfulness in friendship must be intentional and centered in your love for God and one another.

Do you have any funny stories from college? 

Student Development gave my sophomore hall permission to prank the whole campus, so we (including Brandi, Mindy, Kari, and Liz) went out after curfew. One of the RA’s in Beta had a janky car, and he let his hall spray-paint it. We spray-painted the entire car to look like a ladybug, our hall mascot. That was a lot of fun. The Beta guys were, of course, not happy about that, and I think Student Development regretted their decision! 

Sarah (Chappell) Foster (BA 19, MSNM 21) 

What are some foundational friendships you made while you were at Grace? 

When I was at Grace my freshman year, I was in the pit of Alpha Hall. The advantage of residing in the pit was that only six groups lived on the floor. It was very easy to get to know people on a personal level because it’s a very confined space with a lot of women. For students who want to know more about how to make friends at college, they should try to build relationships with their dorm hall. 

What was your experience while you were at Grace and how did those friendships impact you?

I feel blessed to keep up with a lot of those friendships. I experienced deep relationships at Grace because of the dorm room location and growth groups we had every week. There was a mandatory intentionality behind bible study, going around with people in God’s word about how Jesus was impacting our lives for Him at Grace. Then, the different hall events, pulling all-nighters together, procrastinating on assignments, and having coffee.

Do you have any funny stories from college? 

I remember one year I came home into the dorm room, and when I walked in, my friend had taken purple bubble wrap and put it over the entire dorm room. It was one of my favorite things. I jumped on it for over an hour. It was hilarious and a lot of fun.

Pam (Miller) Albritten (BS 19) 

What were some foundational friendships you made while at Grace?

I mean, definitely playing on the basketball team; those relationships stay with you. I think when you’re going through running and hard practices, sweating alongside each other, you make those friendships. I’ve had two friends who were from the basketball team who have stayed with me through motherhood. 

One friend, Catherine Hitzfield, lives in Fort Wayne. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding. I was in her wedding. She has two little kids now. We’re friends (my spouse and I) with her husband, so we hang out a couple times a year because they are a little further away. 

Then, I have my best friend, Rachel Yankosky (we played basketball together) who went to Grace. I was in her wedding. She was in mine. She’s an aunt to my kids and comes over and hangs out. She’s one of those friends that’ll stay with you forever. She’s seen me through everything, good and bad. She’s amazing. 

What did you do together during college?

Practices and basketball. We went to Applebee’s for half-priced apps late at night. We watched movies; normal college stuff, I guess. We did a lot of school together. Catherine was studying to be a teacher, too. We both were education majors. 

Do you have any recommendations for students about how to make friends at college? 

I think you have to follow your gut with college friends. Your gut knows the ones who are going to be there and the ones who aren’t. Follow your gut and find friends you can be honest and open with about the things you’re going through, the good and the bad. There’s no competition, jealousy, or judgment. If you’re wondering how to make friends at college, seek the ones who encourage you to be better.

Conclusion

College is a big transition as a young adult. No matter your major or residence hall, the desire to learn how to make friends at college is an authentic part of the relationship process. 

Take the advice of the alumni here; be intentional, and don’t let those close friends get away! Your time at college is not simply a one-way stop: it’s a life investment. Your forever friendships are just beginning.  

If you’re interested in making solid college friendships that last through the decades, explore Grace’s dorm life. Discover more about our involvement opportunities and how to make friends at college in your campus community.