More than 30 HiMolde students gathered in the campus canteen Thursday evening had only 7 minutes to befriend each other
By UMID MIRZAEV & RABAH TAIF (photo)
Dim light and delicious snacks on the table created a laid-back atmosphere for students who sat across from each other from the very beginning. At the host’s command, half of the group of participants changed their places after every 7 minutes of fascinating communication, getting to know completely new people.
What was happening? Everything is simple: students gathered to participate at the speed friending event that resembles speed dating, organized by Nordic Vagabonds, Eva-Merete Otterlei Børstad (student counselor of SiMolde) and Studentsamskipnaden i Molde (The student society in Molde).
Is it really possible to find BFF in such a short amount of time? It was a question that arose in my head as I padded down the steps of the canteen. The conversation with other participants showed that not only I had such questions since the problem of loneliness is inherent not only to foreign students in Molde.
“We are organizing this event to let students meet each other and make new friends. Maybe they meet someone tonight and find someone who has the same interest. We hope that this evening will be good for the student’s environment. I am so excited to do this for the first time,” said Eva-Merete Otterlei Børstad, project coordinator and student counselor.
“I and Viktor Sanden started to organize such events because we were new in Oslo and we wanted to meet new friends, nice people. It worked very well; people liked it. It seems that this event here in HiMolde works well, also, and it is a good atmosphere here. Normally, when we have the very first event there are about 20 to 40 people, the following parties gather 60 and even 80 participants. Hopefully, we will get more people in the future,” said Christina Højgaard, a nurse who helps to organize speed-friending events in her spare time.
The success of the event can be judged by the fact that many participants were not in a hurry to go home, but stayed longer to chat with each other. It should be noted that on February 27th and March 19th, two more events of the same format on campus are planned.
Summing up, it could be said that the experience of speed friending is interesting and useful. Of course, it is difficult to find a soul mate for life in just 7 minutes (though, who knows). However, speed friending is a good opportunity to lay the foundation for future relations, especially when you can meet a familiar person at HiMolde again.
