Howdy folks, welcome to the first edition of “Ask BA,” where you guys ask me questions, and I do my best to answer them. As a quick disclaimer, I’m a college student; any advice I provide is not that of an expert or a professional, so please don’t view it as such. 

Question 1: Why is it so hard to make friends in college?

This is a very important question, one that I’m sure almost everyone has asked themselves at some point. It’s such a common question, yet so hard to answer. 

One thing that’s certainly part of the problem is our inability to meet people outside of social media. Now, this doesn’t apply to everyone, but a very large part of our generation isn’t great at socializing, meeting people, or striking up conversations with people you don’t already know in person. I will admit that this is a problem that I experience as well. I find it to be a challenge to just start talking to new people because there’s a 50% chance they’ll be happy to talk, and a 50% chance you just classified yourself as a weirdo who talks to strangers.

A good way to go about meeting other students, especially those who have the same interests as you, would be to join clubs or attend events hosted on campus. Though it often seems like people can be opposed to meeting new people, clubs exist almost exclusively for that purpose. Join a club, attend a meeting, anything. There’s not a single person in this world who is completely unable to find someone with similar interests, believe me. 

I also think that we convince ourselves that it’s harder than it actually is. No one wants to make the first move, no one wants to be the one to initiate the conversation, so we stagnate. We all, as a collective, need to start doing this. We need to start talking to people and making new friends so that this problem doesn’t just get worse with each new generation. We need to know each other.

Question 2: Are there any other colorful foods you frequently talk to on Yik Yak?

There are not. No other member of the Fisher Alliance, which consists of myself, Christmas Countdown and Dining Dollars, the two other daily posters on Fisher Yik Yak, is a food. However, if you count salt as a food and not a spice, then yes, there’s one who’s spoken with me since early last year.

Question 3: How have you gone over a year without letting your identity slip?

I try to avoid going into any detail about myself. As I mentioned in the article “The Secret Life of Blue Avocado,” I haven’t posted anything about my grade, age, dorm, major, etc. If I can continue to do that without issue for a while, it shouldn’t end up being a problem. 

Question 4: How close has someone come to identifying you?

To my knowledge, nowhere near close. I try my best to avoid dropping any hints that may help someone identify me. Of course, it is possible that half of Fisher knows who I am and it just hasn’t gotten around to me yet. 

Question 5: Do you know the other members of the Fisher Alliance in real life?

Technically, yes, one of them. I am aware of Christmas Countdown’s identity and I have met them at one point or another, but they were never aware that I am Blue Avocado. 

Question 6: I’m interested in someone in one of my classes, but I don’t know how to approach them. Do you have any advice?

Well, I can certainly tell you that this is a problem I’m sure that everyone has experienced at some point. Honestly, the answer is different for everyone. If you’re interested in someone, the best thing you can do is talk to them. Striking up a conversation can be hard, but once you find some common ground, the ball starts rolling real quick. You could start with the topic of sports, their major, where they’re from, clubs they’re in, etc. It should get easier as time goes on. If you think that after a few days this may be something you would actually want to pursue, ask them for their Snapchat, Instagram, phone number, etc. if they haven’t already given it to you. If they aren’t interested in giving it to you, that’s likely a pretty good sign it probably is not meant to be. However, if they do, it should be pretty simple from then on. Good luck! 

That concludes this week’s edition of “Ask BA.” I hope my answers suffice for those of you who submitted questions. Please don’t hesitate to send in more anytime! I hope to hear from you again!

If you’d like to submit a question that may be featured in Ask BA, please either DM on Yik Yak or add the BA Snap @blueavocado23 for a quicker and easier form of communication.