Young adult back -- advice to make connections
My daughter is back after 4 years away at college and having such a tough time making friends and breaking back in. She's socially shy anyway and needs a group or activity to be part of that will help. She's tried some meet up groups but hasn't found a fit and also is trying to volunteer where she has interests (in healthcare) but that's been slow. I'd also love to try any kind of big sister scenario if there's any such organization that matches up. thanks for your thoughts....
Mar 4, 2017
Parent Replies
You didn't say if your daughter is working, which is were most 20somethings meet friends. I would suggest she look for a summer job that is fulltime and with a lot of other people in her age cohort... like camp work. Many "fancier" camps want counselors with BAs so she's not necessarily overqualified. It doesn't have to be her life's work but it does put her in the fun trenches every day for 12 weeks with peers. I'm thinking Galileo, Roughing It, Edmo, TechKnowHow... there's no shortage of fancy camps!
I have friends who did Big Sister volunteering in their 20s and they said it was emotionally very very hard. Maybe your daughter is ready for that... Other volunteering in groups I agree is a good way to try to meet friends, although in fairness I was a steady volunteer at one place throughout my 20s, and didn't make lasting connections - some volunteer gigs are more social than others, so she might want to try a few.