One day when I was a small, scared freshman, I overheard a girl in my class talking about “Doctor Who.”

Two years later, that girl is now my best friend.

However, this probably would not be true if she had never brought up a T.V. show which I happened to love. I would never have talked to her, as I barely even knew her name at the time. But because we both avidly watched the same show, we were connected by a common interest, opening the door for many more connections to be made.

Whether you turn it on when you’re bored or it becomes your obsession, everyone has a favorite T.V. show. But what is really special is people who love the same show finding each other. Although television is a cultural trend, when people value a certain program above all the countless others and meet others who feel the same way, the connection is exceptionally personal.

T.V. conventions are held for this reason. When I attended a “Supernatural” convention, I was astonished to see how many people loved the show as much as I did. In line for one of the events last year, I met a girl who was enrolled at Columbia University. This year, we texted each other to meet up again and had a blast together. It felt like we had been friends for ages. Although we had already established that we had similar tastes in T.V. shows, we found out that we had a lot more similarities.

At a “Vampire Diaries” convention last spring, an actor from the show came and hugged me. When he let go, I heard two girls excitedly calling my name. As it turned out, they go to school here and just happened to be sitting two rows up from me. We stuck together for the rest of the weekend. Even though we had never talked at school, we quickly became friends. Now I only see them in the hallways, but when I do, I get a big smile on my face remembering what an amazing time we had.

T.V. connects people and gives them common ground. The shows people like can give you insight into their personalities. You can tell a lot about people by asking who their favorite “Friends” character is or if they keep up with the Kardashians. Whether or not the answers are the same as your own, there’s still plenty of fodder for discussion and understanding.

Although T.V. may seem like a shallow thing to bond over, it can lead to deeper connections and more shared interests through the gateway that T.V. opens. It’s a great way to start conversations with new people. And who knows? It could be the first building block to making a good friend, like I did.

So don’t be afraid to share your interests with other people, because they just might have the same ones.