Mariah Escobar/THE RIDER
Vaqueros Clubs and Victor Hernandez, an addiction studies senior, hosted a Shy Students Social in the Ballroom Thursday on the Edinburg campus for students looking to make friends and practice socializing.
The event was created for students who struggle with making friends on campus to meet someone new.
Hernandez said he came up with the idea for the event after seeing multiple posts from anonymous accounts on the UTRGV Student Facebook page from people struggling to make friends.
“Why not make an event for students who are nervous, who might be afraid to start conversations,” he said.
The event was designed to be a laid-back campus event for students, compared to a big gathering like The Stomp where students may be too afraid to go on their own.
Mariah Escobar/THE RIDER
The Shy Students Social featured activities that gave students something to talk about, including a bingo game that asked students to find people with a shared interest. Another activity asked students to recommend music, movies and restaurants.
Hernandez said that when he first began school, he did not go to any campus events because he did not know who he would go with, and would have appreciated an event similar to this.
“I’m hoping that it would ease [students] into bigger events,” said Hernandez. “I’m not thinking, ‘Oh, everybody has to become friends.’ [If] two people show up and they start talking, that’s great.”
Stacey Gallegos, a psychology freshman who attended the event, said “I wanted to make friends since, like, I’m a really shy person in general, so I was like, I will go to try to make friends.”
Escerlette Tobar, an accounting freshman, said it is difficult to make friends on campus because most people aren’t as receptive to talking when she tries to have a conversation with them.
Gallegos added that events like the Shy Students Social are helpful because they help her socialize with other people and get out of her comfort zone.
Mariah Escobar/THE RIDER
She said she attended the event because she wanted “to try to meet new people and work on my communication skills, since I’m not really the type to others, but now that we’re older … we need to start.”
Hernandez said the event exceeded his expectations because he did not expect a big turnout.
Tobar said the event was really welcoming and she enjoyed talking to people because the activities made it easier to interact.
“The whole point was for shy students to show up, and they did, and I’m happy for that,” said Hernandez.
