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If you’ve just moved to Gainesville, you may be a bit overwhelmed by the change of scenery. However, Gainesville is a lively, college town, full of unique, interesting people and cool vibrant places. Moving to a new city can be tough, but making friends can make all the difference. Here’s how to make friends in Gainesville.
Student Life
Okay, okay, I know you’ve heard, “How about you join a club?” plenty of times from your friends and family, but the University of Florida really offers some great opportunities to meet new people. Gator Nights is an event held every Friday evening at UF, at the J. Wayne Reitz Union. At Gator Nights, they show movies that have been recently released, and offer free food, crafts, and other fun activities. Gator Nights is completely free for UF students and it’s a great way to socialize and meet fellow Gators.
Besides that, UF is always hosting a variety of events around campus. From game nights to symphony orchestras to art exhibitions to dance fests -- you’ll never get bored if you put yourself out there and participate in all of the special events. There’s also a prominent Greek Life scene if you’re interested in joining a sorority or fraternity. Make it a habit to be involved in student life and you’ll be sure to make friends in no time! Students at UF are friendly and open-minded, so don’t be shy. If those events don’t tickle your fancy, you can always join a club like your mom suggested… there are over 1,000 different clubs at UF, after all!
Working Out
If you’re all about fitness and love to work out, you’ll definitely enjoy hanging out at any of Gainesville’s awesome gyms. Lots of the gyms in town have distinct, tightly-knit fitness communities that help to motivate you and keep you active. CrossFit programs are a great way of engaging with other athletes and developing friendships with like-minded individuals. It’ll also be great to have a workout buddy to keep you company while you’re getting all your reps in.
Community Events
Gainesville has a lot of events all over town, a lot of which are free! When you have free time on the weekend, don’t spend it on your couch watching Netflix all day -- get out and enjoy the city! There is so much free fun in Gainesville, including a variety of community events hosted at Bo Diddley Plaza. You can check out the best happy hours around town to get the most bang for your buck too. If you want to kick it up a notch and bust a move on the dancefloor, head to the nightclubs in Downtown Gainesville, like Saga and Simon’s, where you can dance the night away and have fun with new people.
