I'm a nursing student but again posted this topic in this section because you are all very experienced and intelligent. So here it goes:
I attend a university for nursing, and I absolutely love the program. The faculty members are phenomenal and they also have tremendous support for me to succeed in this program because I have a hearing disability. I'm beyond grateful to have their support. I was born deaf in both ears and got a Cochlear Implant so I can hear everything now.
But in the school, it's almost over (two more weeks until exams) and I still have not made any friends. Not even a single friend. Let me elaborate. I've added the new friends I've made on my Facebook and whenever they are online, I would initiate a conversation to, you know, make new friends. That works but the problem is that they NEVER initiate a conversation with me. Never. Not even once. Sometimes people would come up to me and say, "hi" and that's it. They would walk away and sit in a different seat. Because of my hearing disability, my speech sounds a bit different (it's now worse but I will have speech therapy soon to rectify the problem) and I've noticed that when I'm in school and I go up to people to chat, they are like, "what?" As in they don't understand me a bit and they seem to be a bit lazy. For example, I asked a girl beside me in a lecture, "is that our professor?" and she said, "yea....wait what? What did you say?" People don't seem to be putting in an effort in making a conversation with me with my hearing loss.
Also, every time I go to lectures, I've noticed that when my nursing classmates are with their circle of friends. Always. I have seen a few nursing students who come in alone but they will end up sitting with their friends in the lecture. I've always sat alone. There's one girl who I like and we are kinda "friends" but whenever she sees me sitting alone, she would say "hey how are you? blah blah blah" and then sit next to me. I would be so happy until HER friends come in and then she moves to a different seat to be with them. This happens to me every single time. Everywhere I go, I see nursing students with their circle of friends and I have no one literally. I'm a HUGE introvert but nonetheless I always make an effort to make new friends or talk to people.
