You’ve Got a Friend in Me

Aldana Ghazzawi, Class of 2027, took a big leap when she left her home country of Spain to enroll at Suffolk. While she was excited to explore a new university in a new city, she arrived in Boston not knowing a soul.

That’s one reason she signed up for How to Be a Friend—one of dozens of Creativity & Innovation courses open to first-year students that focus on developing students’ creative, collaborative, and process skills.

“What I’m learning is not only how to be a friend, but how to recognize patterns within different types of friendships,” says Ghazzawi, a psychology major. “There are a lot of real-world examples that you can relate to in your own life.”

Instructor John Zakrosky designed the course three years ago because he felt students dealing with social isolation brought on by the pandemic could benefit from it. “Friendship is a universal, essential, and vital part of the human experience—and a skill set that’s not really taught,” he says. “Friendship also makes us take a look at ourselves, and construct creative ways to interact with others in ways that enrich our lives.”

Zakrosky teaches conflict resolution, listening, and assertion skills in a workshop-style learning environment where students engage actively and independently on a wide range of subjects. Every week they consider a different aspect of friendship, such as trust, loyalty, vulnerability, and authenticity.

“I try to make the course fun and allow students a lot of freedom to express themselves,” says Zakrosky. “If they listen to me too much, I’m not doing my job.”

“We all come from different upbringings and it’s good to hear everyone’s perspective in a judgment-free zone,” says Ghazzawi, who now has a group of new friends on and off campus. “There are no right or wrong answers.”

For Matthew Arnold, Class of 2027, the course has been a chance to improve both his public speaking and his listening skills—which could come in handy given his aspirations of entering the political arena one day.

“I really like to hear ideas from other students and how they compare to mine,” says the Rehoboth political science major. Like Ghazzawi, he credits Zakrosky with creating the kind of atmosphere where “students feel comfortable and engaged, where everyone can say what they feel and have an open mind.”

Nashita Jahan, Class of 2025, says the course has elevated her comfort level when it comes to interacting with people for the first time.

“I can now go up to a complete stranger and start a conversation by asking them how they are doing or compliment them on what they are wearing,” says Jahan, a business analytics major from Bangladesh who followed her sister, Nayela, Class of 2024, to Suffolk. While not every new acquaintance becomes a friend, she adds, “this helps me build new connections and grow my network.”

The course has also challenged Jahan to consider her own responsibilities as a friend: “Am I a good friend or a bad friend?” she asks. “If I’m a bad friend, how do I get better?”

For their final project, students will collaborate on a mini-manual that describes the various friendship skills they’ve learned throughout the semester. The goal: Create a short how-to guide that captures the essence of what friendship is all about.

“Friendship is not something that happens magically; it’s about effort and taking risks,” says Zakrosky. “If it works out, you really learn how wonderful it is to share your life with others.”