Making friends and building an optimal social circle is one of the most important factors in a study abroad experience. While this may seem easy to do, it can prove difficult at times. From my time abroad, here are the top five tips and tricks I have learned to make and sustain quality relationships.

1. Practice making new friends before leaving your home university.

Making friends is a skill just like any other, and the more you practice, the better you will become at it. I recommend that you attempt to make new friends the semester before your abroad experience. Talk to someone in one of your classes and study together. Introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you at an event or presentation. Anything works.

2. Always get the contact information of people you meet.

You never know who could become one of your best friends while abroad. Whenever you go out in a group, get the phone number of everyone you meet. When saving new numbers, I suggest the following format: Name/location where met/other characteristic. For example, let’s say I meet John while at the beach. After talking a bit, I learn he sits behind me in my literature class. When saving his number, I will save it as John Smith/beach/lit. This way, if I forget his name later I can search my phone for “lit” or “beach” and his contact will pop up. As soon as I save his number, I will text him something like, “Hey John, this is David from the beach” so he remembers me as well. Since you will probably be using an app for messaging (like WhatsApp), make sure your profile picture is of your face so people will be able to use your picture to remember who you are as well.

3. Create a diverse social circle with both local and international friends.

Other international students offer a great way to make quick friends initially. However, sometimes this can offer a false sense of security and comfort. Especially if language acquisition is important for you, these students cannot offer what a local can in terms of cultural immersion. Instead of staying with other international students, try to include locals in your social circle. Don’t feel pressured to go out with the same group of other international students. Regularly associate yourself with different social groups to understand multiple perspectives.

4. Take advantage of your university classes.

University classes offer a great common ground for the creation of new friendships. I recommend taking classes with the highest percentage of local students whenever possible, and avoid taking classes intended for international students. During the first week of school, introduce yourself to a new person each day in every class and get their contact information (see tip No. 2!). Pay attention and speak up in class so people learn who you are and are more open to helping you later if a situation arises or if they see you at an event outside the classroom. While in class, sit in the middle of the other students, don’t sit alone in an empty row or in a corner. Do your homework in the university library or other populated area so you can ask for help from other students and use this as a tool for building your social circle.

5. Even if you don’t really feel like going out, do it anyway.

Sometimes you won’t really feel like going out, and you just want to sit home and watch Netflix instead. Or your friends are going to an event that doesn’t really interest you. While staying home is tempting, remind yourself about why you are abroad in the first place and your motives for studying in a new country. I have met many awesome people on nights that I didn’t feel like going out initially. But after I pushed that mentally aside, I almost always had a fun night out and had unique experiences at different venues.

While abroad, you will almost always feel a bit of anxiety and this is perfectly normal. However, the most important thing is to learn to accept this nervous feeling and adapt to living with it, instead of suppressing it. Not everybody will want to be your friend and you can’t control that, so you have to just take thing as they come. Look for internal fulfillment instead of external validation. When you can be confident in your own actions and live independent of individual outcomes, you can become the facilitator of your own luck and get the most out of your time abroad.