By Alec Evard, Class of 2027
Most people think friend groups form from just one defining moment—such as meeting someone during orientation and “instantly clicking.” But in my experience, that's not really how it works. Friendships don't normally start with one big moment, but instead they grow out of small, repeated ones.
During Case Western Reserve University’s Discover Week, an orientation and welcome week for first-year students, I didn't have a single event where I met my friends. It was the accumulation of moments such as movie nights, beach volleyball and simply being in the same spaces over and over again. At first, these interactions felt casual and even a little bit random, but over time, familiarity made conversations easier. Those small, repeated moments slowly turned into true connections. Even my best friend is someone I met in my orientation group—not because we instantly clicked, but because we kept showing up in the same place and taking the time to get to know each other.
Even after Discover Week, this same pattern continued in my first year of nursing clinicals. Being in a new environment and navigating unfamiliarity together quickly created some of my strongest connections. But these friendships did not form from instant chemistry. I developed these friendships through consistency and shared experiences.
What I've learned in my time at Case Western Reserve is that friend groups don't form right away or even all at once. Unlike what most people think, they build gradually through proximity and repetition. For new CWRU students, that means you don't have to find your people right away. Just show up, stay open and trust that all of those small moments will eventually turn into something lifelong.