The UnLonely Film Festival: Best of Fest
My College Transition
The glory days of college life are supposed to begin when you arrive as a freshman, right? It turns out that juggling assignments, fitting in and finding friends adds up to a major readjustment. Everyone on social media makes it look like a piece of cake, but loneliness is more common than many think. Here’s a lighthearted look at admitting to and conquering college loneliness, 101.
About the FIlmmaker
Emery, whose hometown is Montclair, New Jersey, is finishing her freshman year at Cornell’s Architecture Art Planning program. Her dream job, she says, is to be an art director: “…simply the possibility of working with a big team of creatives, surrounded by those ready to make something beautiful, just gets my blood pumping!”
Dive Even Deeper
Try the following to connect further with the film’s story…
- Choreograph and video-record a dance in your own home. Be thoughtful about the music and the choreography. What are you trying to express?
- Commit to cinema verité on your social media platforms for a week or more. Instead of posting only the highlights of your life, including some of the everyday realities—instead of showing off that beautifully plated salmon at the latest trendy restaurant, focus your camera phone on your Tuesday night cold leftovers instead. Document and celebrate your everyday experience and add an important dose of reality to your social network. Humor helps.
so trure about clubs. Sharing the same interest can be helpful but not a sure fire way to make friends
Agree that making new connections is difficult but having realistic expectations and relizing it’s a process that everyone goes through is reassuring.
College is not what everybody says its going to be like. Adjusting and finding where you belong can be lonely and difficult, but in the end you grow and learn something new.
Definitely takes time and so hard to feel alone
I think everyone has these feelings when starting college to some degree. i played a college sport and had 30 instant friends, yet there were still moments of loneliness and questioning if i belong.
Takes me back in time. I recall similar feelings about being around people and still being lonely.
Starting college is somewhat stressful, especially when I just emigrated to America. There were lots of requirements needed by the school that I was transferring to, taking the entrance test, registering for classes, and attending classes in which my classmates are now Americans.
Good job describing an experience that people can have in college. Fun and interesting production too.
I relate to this as I felt the same way in college, and even more so as a stay at home mom.
I felt similar to this my freshman year of college, however it got easier as time went on. This was a great video that put to words what a lot of people experience.
I went through the same thing my 1st year of college and it got easier the 2nd year.
I loved this video! I think its so true, and really represents the misconceptions of how fun college is.
Im going through the same thing. It’s very hard to make friends especially in college. Because I feel like I am intrusive and I don’t know, it just gets lonely.
I agree I experienced many of these things when I migrated to America.School is hard and we face many new requirements that we are not used to
I felt the same way going into college. I expected myself going to parties all the time but that didn’t seem to happen.
So relatable. I thought I was the only one who was having a rough first year but its nice to know that everyone goes through this and that I’m not alone.
It’s actually really relatable. Pretty much everything that was talked about resonated with me, so it’s nice someone got real about college and how they feel. You can feel isolated sometimes especially when you feel like there’s something wrong with you, when really it’s how college portrayed (as opposed to reality.)
It is reassuring knowing that you are on the same boat as a lot of other people and I think it can actually encourage you in the way to trust in the process
This is basically where I am right now. I just need some advice to help me make find a group.
It is refreshing to not hear the typical “it get’s better” trope. It was jarring at first to hear a more truthful perspective as I am used to waiting for the “it’ll all be okay”, but I appreciated it in the end.
Very relatable, especially during the lockdown.
i feel like with the online environment and being a commuter everything is a lot more difficult than if it were all in person
I agree, it’s important to join clubs and extracurricular activities, but not confident if we can make friends.
Being a remote learner makes it difficult because I feel that real connections have to be formed in person