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The OP is correct about how hard it is to make friends in Miami-Dade and I've got bad news for him--it gets worse after you get out of college. I actually found is somewhat easy to make a couple of friends in FIU but afterwards nothing. If FIU still has their anime club you can try that. It used to meet in the auditorim and watch anime on the big screen for four and a half hours on Thursday nights. They had a 30 minute intermission and it was pretty easy to make friends there. It's low stress and if you don't feel like talking you can just sit back and watch the anime. Also, since it's all in Japanese (with English subtitles) its like a neutral ground between the Spanish and English speakers. lol.
To each their own I guess, but out of all the clubs and organizations in college the fact that you highlight the anime club as an actual place to make friends and then even highlight that you can basically sit there and watch movies with little interaction to me provides valuable insight as to why you may have found it hard to make friends after college in Miami.
Obviously the biggest factor in finding friends is connecting with people that have similar interest. So seeing as how so many people come to Miami for the nightlife, partying, beaches, etc. I guess I can see how people who don't find these things to be that appealing could have a hard time finding friends. But as gymbuff has pointed out there are other activities available you may just have to work harder and be more outgoing to participate in them. However if people do not like the common activities and they are not willing to be assertive and go out and get involved in some of the less common activities then at that point the problem clearly lies with the person, not Miami.
While I agree that my witnessing of people using drugs is more prevalent than in some other cities I have been out to clubs plenty of times without witnessing any drug usage at all. I'm pretty sure you can find someone to go to the club who is not going to be doing coke all night. Now on the other hand if you are saying you don't like to go out to the club period then I think you may need to recognize that your views are somewhat prude and therefore with those view you probably have a problem at most campuses.
Most of those threads are for middle aged transient people. The majority of college students are not on this forum complaining because they can't make friends. I have visited UM 3 times now and have already made friends. During one visit I asked to speak to some current students in my program and after having discussion about the best place to live we ended hanging out in Brickell so they could show me the area and where they lived. Open mouths don't get fed. I had to specifically request to speak with the current students and then from there I asked plenty of questions about where is the best place to live. Had I simply visited the school and listened to what they had to say and went home I would have never made the new acquaintance.
This is just completely ridiculous. During one of my trips me and my fiance toured FIU because that's where she plans to attend. When we walked through Graham Center we saw so many students hanging out together it was ridiculous. My fiance only has an associate degree from a community college and she was blown away at the difference between the schools. And we saw a lot of diverse groups of people hanging out. From the cheerleaders do something over by the panther pit, to people doing some sort of bake sale , to a bunch of dorky kids playing video game over by the game room. FIU has countless clubs from Greeks to student government. They have 43 social clubs, how many clubs do you want????
Again the problem may be that you are a bit too prude. You seem to act "holier than thou" and then want to complain about how you cant find friends because no one fits you holy standards.
Why don't you ask the THOUSANDS of reasonable nice young people that you walk past every day. When we parked in the garage we saw plenty of cars that weren't bimmers.
Most of the clubs at FIU are ones that support certain movements or charities etc. Basically, I'm not interested in the clubs offered, I've already looked. There are no car club, photography club, videogame club, or computer club like club setc. So it's hard to really find a club which has similar interests to your own. I really have no interest in student government (aka popularity contest) or charity/movement/ethnicity based clubs.
Anyways, not everyone is a social butterfly like you appear to be, I don't go up to random people and start talking to them. I don't think I've ever seen somebody do that unless they were trying to get you to buy or support something. For someone who is slightly reserved but still smiles, is polite and can hold a decent conversation like me, it's been nearly impossible to meet people and get to know them. Especially reasonable, nice, young people like me.
And it's not like you can do that anyways and expect a reasonable outcome. For example, you could go up and start talking to a girl, but if she's one of the those mainstream typical party girls forget making friends because almost all of them act in that fake, superficial way.
As far as guys go, it's even worse because some of them are just d-bags out in the open. And these experiences are not judgments based on observation only, but on actually meeting and communication with many of these kinds of people which seem to be innumerable around FIU and Miami.
Most of the young crowd likes only one thing and that is partying, drugs and alcohol. I'm just not into that.
Anyways, I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences, stories and opinions. I really enjoyed going through the thread.
Most of the clubs at FIU are ones that support certain movements or charities etc. Basically, I'm not interested in the clubs offered, I've already looked. There are no car club, photography club, videogame club, or computer club like club setc. So it's hard to really find a club which has similar interests to your own. I really have no interest in student government (aka popularity contest) or charity/movement/ethnicity based clubs.
Anyways, not everyone is a social butterfly like you appear to be, I don't go up to random people and start talking to them. I don't think I've ever seen somebody do that unless they were trying to get you to buy or support something. For someone who is slightly reserved but still smiles, is polite and can hold a decent conversation like me, it's been nearly impossible to meet people and get to know them. Especially reasonable, nice, young people like me.
And it's not like you can do that anyways and expect a reasonable outcome. For example, you could go up and start talking to a girl, but if she's one of the those mainstream typical party girls forget making friends because almost all of them act in that fake, superficial way.
As far as guys go, it's even worse because some of them are just d-bags out in the open. And these experiences are not judgments based on observation only, but on actually meeting and communication with many of these kinds of people which seem to be innumerable around FIU and Miami.
Most of the young crowd likes only one thing and that is partying, drugs and alcohol. I'm just not into that.
Anyways, I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences, stories and opinions. I really enjoyed going through the thread.
Yeah, you basically just proved the guy who called you "holier than thou" correct by your depictions of the students at FIU.
Have you considered starting a club at FIU? One of my friends was trying to bring the club "Music Saves Lives" from FIU to where we attend school, UF. From what she told me, the process seemed relatively doable. You need a faculty adivser, a couple of students, and you need to write up all the paper work. You could look into that and in that way you can ensure to have individuals with like interests and have none of those fake mainstream girls and douchebag guys in your midst.
hobbys bro. join sportin clubs or supporters clubs if u rnt into the pub n club scene. ive been here 4 days in stn beach and yeah ppl do mind to themselves but once im sorted and settled im planning to join a sportin or social club, being non latin or non africian americian im prob in the same boat as u.
...You don't like clubs, parties or partaking in illegal activities? Seems to me that is the way that it goes around here. And Googling the subject of "making friends in Miami" returns rather uninspiring results calling Miami "not a very good place to make friends" and the like.
So yeah, I'm am a sophomore at FIU and have a hard time meeting people. Nobody seems to be really interested in meeting new people. There are no reasonable and interesting clubs at FIU so that is out of the question. And around the city, I can't think of anywhere to go where you can make friends.
It seems to me as everybody is occupied with themselves and living superficial lifestyles. Either that or getting high or drunk and participating in other stupid behaviors which I have no desire to be involved in.
So I ask the question, where are the reasonable and nice young people around here?
Or is the only way to meet people here is to act like a jerk and drive a bimmer?
A good place to meet people is the Rec Center at FIU. Many students that live on campus go there.
one DOES NOT have to drink and do drugs to have friends in Miami. If you think a different city will offer less of the same lifestyle you are mistaken, its just less advertised. Every city has the same cons... but different pros. And to be honest friends are overrated.
I can understand the problem completely. You did not mention if you were originally from Miami. The trick is, whatever you are searching for, the crowd is there SOMEWHERE in Miami. The trick is trying to find them.
I myself was into the rock and punk scene. Pretty early on, I discovered Churchills....purely by accident because that was NOT a neighborhood that was on my 'to go to list'! North Miami has some places on 125th St. that I've had some luck in where you can just go in a talk to people. Same with Coconut Grove; although the 'cool crowd' there seems to be a bit more transient (out-of-towners). A date once took me to Cauley Square and I was amazed....it was really a gem of a place. But I don't know if it is so good for just going to meet people.
I lived in North Miami Beach, so I found that Broward provided a lot more in regards to meeting friendly, un-pretentious people. Downtown Hollywood was good for this. But again....it depends on what your into. I like live music...and the more intellectual crowd. I used to work on South Beach and I liked the place in the daytime in that you have a very interesting business/mover & shaker crowd. Happy hour on South Beach was the best! Of course many of these people have Beemers....but they are more friendly, more mature.
Notice that my post has you driving all over the place; and that is a shame really. In order to really enjoy all that South Florida has to offer. I thought nothing of getting in my car and driving up I-95 until I got to the beach in Ft. Lauderdale to get some pizza and some laughs at the Primanti Bros. on the beach at 3 am. But that is me. You just have to look outside your immediate area. And keep that gas tank full!
I'm not going to lie, Miami is a VERY UNFRIENDLY CITY (compared to most) but not everyone is stuck-up especially not at FIU! When I go to other states, I'm amazed at how people are so friendly to strangers. Most of old high school classmates went there and we are pretty down to earth.
I dont know if I'm repeating previous comments(bc I was too lazy to read it all) but since ur in college then maybe you need to be a little more social. It can be as simple as asking a classmate if they have a pencil to borrow or asking about the homework assignment then asking what they got planned later on. Also, try joining some type of organization at FIU that matches ur interest such as a fraternity, trying out for a sport, the student union, etc. I'm now Delta and I joined the Caribbean Students Association at my school and met new people there. Or use Facebook as a mean to get better acquainted with ur schoolmates and to see what events are going on for the day.
I really dont suggest that you just go to random places, that u are not even familar with and get friendly with random people. Alot of people here have ill intentions. With that said... GOOD LUCK!
Ok you don't like fraternies but how about asking to borrowing a pencil or discussing the lectures? Grup studies? Don't they have group assignments? Maybe you have a very low self esteem chewy but making friends @ fiu shouldn't be that hard!!
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