Making Friends as an Adult is Hard, Bumble BFF Makes it Easy

The second I moved to Illinois, I wanted to make friends. I knew I was starting my masters and my graduate assistantship within it, but I didn’t realize how much of an adult I had already become. Basically all kinds of responsibilities of supervising without the fun. It really took a toll on the idea that I could actually be friends with people around my age.

There are so many rules that people don’t explicitly talk about when supervising undergraduate students.

Every opportunity I had to plan a mixer or do a lunch with staff on campus, I would. Whether people showed up or didn’t was out of my control. Graduating two years later, I came out with some pretty solid friendships. *Shoutout to you, you know who you are.* The road to it was thanks to Bumble BFF.

To give you a glimpse of what Bumble BFF wouldn’t give it justice. Bumble as an application has three tiers- dating, for business, and making friends. I used it for two of the three, but that’s a story for another day! I actually wrote about my friend dating experience too, if you want to check that out.

I did all sorts of things with my new friends.

Cubs Game

Like always, a sporting event is always a good event to partake in. You’re not always sitting still and you’re pretty much either cheering or eating when you’re at your seats. It’s actually pretty fun trying to figure out who is the sports person, who is the one that you’ll find at the concession stands, and who will just chat the whole game. Sporting events are always the move!!!

Celebrating Holidays, like Cinco de Drinko

Doing something for holidays is always a great time. We got together to celebrate and just get to know everyone that came. It’s the hosting random people that may get to you… but if one friend is willing to do it, go for it! In this situation, I’d rather be the attendee. I love that we shared Cinco de Mayo, decorated, and dressed up accordingly. It was so much fun to just relax and unwind.

Kayaking in Espenscheid Forest Preserve

WHAT A DAY! We had to reserve our spot a few weeks in advance because we also had to pay to go. The idea of planning a date that fit everyone’s schedule, collecting monies to keep everyone accountable, and planning who would be carpooling… you’d think would be a breeze. Gratefully, our friend Katie did all the leg work. Getting girls from the city and the suburbs was a mission, but possible!

The forest preserve as a whole was beautiful. You had a choice of one or two seater for the kayaks. Dogs were invited as well, as long as they were trained! I would plan for a whole day because it was a few hours just one way. You basically park your car in the lot, then you’re taken by a van to the start of the kayaks, and you end where your car is. We brought tons of snacks and water to stay hydrated.

Yoga in 360 Observatory Deck

Exercising and friends means that we can’t take life seriously. Yoga was a ton of stretching and more for the experience because we got to do it with an AMAZING VIEW!! I’d totally go again but just for the observatory deck. I think it’s also cheaper if you enter with your yoga class than just buying a ticket all together. You’re welcome!

Strawberry picking in Johnson’s Farm Produce, or really just random photoshoots

We actually went for a strawberry picking session, but the weather wasn’t in our favor. We still made the best of it and had a mini photoshoot. *Shoutout to Anthony for being a trooper and taking all these photos.*

Matching Sets for in-house photoshoots

I think it was mostly the peer pressure that did it. One person buys the stuff, knows our sizes, and we just pay them back. We matched for a few different occasions, so now we have no excuse but to be twins/quadruplets for fun!

Harry Potter pop-up

I’ve been wanting to go to a pop up forever and we finally made it happen! Everything you need to know about Harry Potter was used as decoration for the whole bar. It was actually pretty neat. They also had a trivia game that everyone could take part in, so my boyfriend did his thing. I thought I knew Harry Potter……….. back to the drawing board I go.

It’s a different ball game *pun intended* when it comes to making plans and following through. The idea is that you show up and try to get out of your comfort zone. I promise, IT’S WORTH IT!