[JohnFen]

> a simple fact of life that after graduating, it gets harder to make friends as you get older

This is not really a simple fact of life, in my opinion. It only gets harder because people make less of an effort. If you put as much time and energy into being social later in life as you do in college, then it isn't any harder to make new friends.

The main difference is that in school, you're automatically surrounded by a lot of varied people. Out of school, that's not automatic -- you have to intentionally put yourself in such situation. Often this is done by joining and participating in clubs and organization that cover things you're interested in (dancing, crafting, whatever).

[sizzle]

That's my point exactly, relatively speaking you'll never be surrounded by ~30,000 university students who are forced to cohabit the same location in their most formative years.

The situation is much different when you have to find a babysitter for your kids to free up what little time you might have each day that is then split between you and your life partner to afford to socialize regularly.

I've just internalized this phenomenon as a fact of life after entering mid adulthood and settling down.

[JohnFen]

Ah, I understand. I was reading more into your statement than I should have. I'm a 50-something man and I often hear others of my general age complain about how hard it is to make friends, but they rarely realize that's something they can actually fix.

> The situation is much different when you have to find a babysitter for your kids to free up what little time you might have each day

Indeed! That was what taught me the real reason to arrange "playdates". It's not really for the kids, it's so that the adults can socialize with less hassle around babysitters and such.

But having children certainly makes lots of things more difficult. Mine are adults now, and I can tell you from experience that once the kids are off to college and beyond, then your social life can come back in its entirety.

[EForEndeavour]

> in school, you're automatically surrounded by a lot of varied people. Out of school, that's not automatic

That's exactly OP's point. Not automatic implies not as easy.