Second day of PT school

[Futuredpt0333]

So a little bit about me, I’m pretty introverted and don’t strike a conversation with anyone first unless they talk to me. It’s the second day of PT school and it’s not at all what I expect. During breaks/lunch, I sit alone while I see classmates sitting together and talking. I see people already formed cliques/groups and I expected to have stayed back after classes to study but I somehow have been going home and doing that on my own. In your guys’ opinion, will this change? Is this something I have to initiate first? Has anyone done PT school without groups or super close friends? TIA


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[TheDancingWriter]

So I haven't started PT school yet and because no one has offered advice yet, I'll try to help the best I can. When I started back to school to get the prerequisites for PT school, I didn't think I was going to make any friends because my mindset was that I was simply there to learn and study and excel. But I always made friends with the people who were in my lab groups, mostly because I wasn't afraid to be myself and offer help. To me, lab groups are the easiest way to make friends because you are with those people a lot.

 

[kdubz7w7]

So a little bit about me, I’m pretty introverted and don’t strike a conversation with anyone first unless they talk to me. It’s the second day of PT school and it’s not at all what I expect. During breaks/lunch, I sit alone while I see classmates sitting together and talking. I see people already formed cliques/groups and I expected to have stayed back after classes to study but I somehow have been going home and doing that on my own. In your guys’ opinion, will this change? Is this something I have to initiate first? Has anyone done PT school without groups or super close friends? TIA


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Just start joining people! Start sitting with people, start striking up conversations or at least actively contributing to ongoing conversations. If you're hanging out by yourself not speaking to anyone, people are most likely going to leave you alone. This is obviously just my opinion, but I think DPT school is a LOT easier to have people to study with, laugh and cry with, all that stuff. If nothing else, you will need your classmates when you need to practice manual skills. Coming out of your shell a bit will be good practice for clinic, too.
I found my first two semesters cliques kept forming and reforming. I'm now just starting my third year and while most friendships have been formed, the studying and social groups are still changing around a lot. At the end of my second year I found myself studying with people I had never studied with before, for whatever reason. If it's only your second day, it's very likely the groups you see forming are going to change a dozen times. So yes, it will probably change & at some point you'll find your people, but it won't happen anytime soon if you aren't at least trying.

 

[jimmychitwood15]

I'm in my second semester of PT school, and I also tend to be pretty introverted. It does seem like there's a tendency for people to form cliques, even early on. But if you make an effort to talk to other people in the program, I'm sure they'll engage with you. School is very collaborative in nature -- with labs and groupwork, you're bound to interact with and open up to others. It may just take a little effort to push yourself out or your comfort zone. If you're nervous about how others are going to perceive/judge you, don't be. Most people are too concerned about themselves to give a damn

I'm more of a floater in my class. I don't really sit with a defined group of people or have close, close friends. I also prefer to study by myself rather than in groups. I'm doing fine so far, so I don't think it's an absolute necessity that you develop super super close friends, and I don't think you should fret over not having done so in just two days

 

[ya1]

You will have to have a lab partner soon (for hands-on practice), so you will have to talk to your partner, s/he will have to talk to you and you will engage more in conversations with others.
You do not have to chat with people if that is not what you want. If you do want to engage with them more, just ask them something about the class, homework, what they think about the program or school so far...
I did not have friends in my PT class. Everyone was pretty nice to each other, but we talked while being at school or when being out of school but still talking about homework or other school stuff. other than that, i did not spend time with them. Studying on my own was always better for me. I did hands-on practice with my classmates since I needed their feedback and I needed to practice.

 

[Pathway to DPT]

So a little bit about me, I’m pretty introverted and don’t strike a conversation with anyone first unless they talk to me. It’s the second day of PT school and it’s not at all what I expect. During breaks/lunch, I sit alone while I see classmates sitting together and talking. I see people already formed cliques/groups and I expected to have stayed back after classes to study but I somehow have been going home and doing that on my own. In your guys’ opinion, will this change? Is this something I have to initiate first? Has anyone done PT school without groups or super close friends? TIA


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It is only the second day so do not worry. DPT school is a new environment and it can be hard to make friends when everyone is trying to be their best. Maybe sit in a new spot and see if that strikes a new conversation with some of your classmates. PT school also has lots of group work or partner work so you are bound to make some friends that way and from there ask them to study together after school or to grab coffee one day.

Often the students in PT programs get very close since you spend all day with each other and they understand the struggles of attending class all day and then coming home to study. It is now less about being competitive and now about helping everyone succeed in PT school. Even if you start out with making 1-2 friends, it's so important to have someone to rely on in my experience.

Don't give up on yourself and know that you'll make friends!

 

[MartialArtDPT]

So a little bit about me, I’m pretty introverted and don’t strike a conversation with anyone first unless they talk to me. It’s the second day of PT school and it’s not at all what I expect. During breaks/lunch, I sit alone while I see classmates sitting together and talking. I see people already formed cliques/groups and I expected to have stayed back after classes to study but I somehow have been going home and doing that on my own. In your guys’ opinion, will this change? Is this something I have to initiate first? Has anyone done PT school without groups or super close friends? TIA

It'll change if you want it to change. There are some good resources online that I recommend for working on your thought processes surrounding making friends and just in general. The most important is Kara Loewentheil's podcast called Unf*ck Your Brain. There's a ton of stuff on making friends in there as well as numerous other topics and I can't recommend her enough. Another good resource, a bit more pointedly, is Charisma On Command on Youtube. Great, people-focused topics and wisdom from a young guy who has a lot of emotional and social intelligence. If you want friends, they are 100% available to you- you just need to learn how to interact and think in a more effective way for that goal. I've been there. Good luck, and as far as time management with learning this in addition to your studies, the podcast I mentioned has helped me immensely with time management and was totally worth the time.