Lifestyle & Culture, Campus Life

The accidental art of making friends

Prabhnoor explains why friendship at university isn't one big moment — it’s a series of small, everyday interactions that turn complete strangers into your favourite people.

September 25, 2026 By Prabhnoor

YouAlberta is written by students for students.

Prabhnoor Singh (he/him) is a third-year Honors finance student in the Alberta School of Business who has a habit of keeping his plate a little too full and, admittedly, likes it that way. Always curious and rarely one to turn down a new experience, he loves meeting new people, hearing their stories and finding himself in places or situations he probably wouldn’t have expected a few months earlier.

Outside the classroom, Prabhnoor is usually bouncing between coffee shops, taking photos of moments that catch his eye, listening to music or podcasts, swimming, playing chess, soaking up whatever sunshine Edmonton decides to offer or convincing himself that the Cameron Library basement is actually a pleasant place to spend an unreasonable number of hours.

Some of my favourite people at university started out as complete strangers. No big introduction, no planned friendship, just being in the same place at the right time and one of us deciding to say something. That’s one of my favourite things about university: you never know which ordinary interaction might end up meaning more than you expected.

I don’t think I’ve ever walked onto campus thinking, Today, I’m going to make a new friend.

Usually, it happens in much less exciting ways.

You sit beside someone in class. You recognize the same person from the library for the third time that week. You end up walking in the same direction after a lecture. Or, if you’re anything like me, you’re trying to find a classroom in a building you swear was designed specifically to confuse you.

“Hey, do you know where this room is?”

That’s it.

They might point you upstairs, and you never see them again. Or maybe they’re looking for the same room. You walk there together, complain about how impossible the building is to navigate, realize you’re in the same class and end up sitting together.

Next class, there’s already someone to say hi to.

I’ve realized throughout my time at the U of A that friendships can start ridiculously easily. I’m naturally curious about people, and somewhere along the way I started seeing little interactions as opportunities to find out where a conversation might go.

Not every conversation turns into something.

Most probably won’t. But every once in a while, one does.

I think we make the first conversation harder than it needs to be. You don’t have to introduce yourself like you’re at a networking event. Ask where the classroom is. Ask if the seat beside them is taken. Tell someone you like their jacket. Ask the person beside you if they understood what just happened in the lecture.

You don’t necessarily need to be interesting to start a conversation. You just need to be interested enough to continue one. Maybe you start by talking about an assignment and five minutes later you’re talking about music, travel or what you want to do after university. That’s usually the fun part.

There’s also something to be said for becoming a familiar face.

I spend an unreasonable amount of time in the Cameron Library basement. At this point, I’ve accepted it. But whether it’s Cameron, your favourite coffee shop or the gym, going to the same places means you start recognizing people.

First comes the little nod. Then maybe a “Hey.” One day, somebody asks you to watch their laptop while they grab coffee, and somehow you’ve progressed to the next stage of university friendship.

For me, another big part of it has been saying yes.

I have a habit of keeping my plate a little too full, and I’m admittedly a bit of a stickler for making the most out of life. When something sounds interesting, whether it’s an event, a club, coffee after class or a random plan with people I barely know, my instinct is usually to say yes and figure out the details later.

Has that occasionally left me wondering why I agreed to something? Absolutely. It has also given me some of my favourite university experiences.

Get food with people you only sort of know. Go to the event where you recognize exactly one person. Sit somewhere different. Try something you’re probably going to be terrible at. Sometimes nothing memorable happens. Other times, months later, you realize an entire friendship started because you almost stayed home that day.

And give acquaintances a chance.

Some of the people I’ve eventually become closest with started as people I would occasionally see around campus. A two-minute conversation here, a random encounter there, and eventually there’s enough familiarity to grab coffee or study together.

Friendship usually isn’t one big moment. It’s a bunch of small ones that eventually stop feeling small.

University makes it easy to move through life on autopilot. Class, headphones in, library, headphones back in, home. I’m guilty of it too. But every once in a while, leave the headphones off. Look around. Ask the question instead of pulling out your phone. Talk to the person beside you before class.

You don’t need every interaction to become something. Just leave enough room for something to happen.

There are thousands of people around you at university. You’ll never meet most of them.

But you might meet one.

And sometimes all it takes is, “Hey, do you know where this classroom is?”

Then you take it from there.