UA students were challenged to meet 100 new people in 100 days last night by dating expert Adam LoDolce during his presentation, “Being Alone Sucks,” in the Ferguson Center Theatre.

This challenge is one of the many ways people can attempt to become socially free, LoDolce said. He defined social freedom as having the confidence to be your true self in any social situation without fear of rejection or criticism.

“If you are willing to put yourself out there, yes, some people will be haters, but most will be lovers,” he said. “The worst thing you can do is go through life with people being indifferent about you.”

LoDolce travels to college campuses around the country talking to students about dating, socializing, attraction and self-esteem. His new book, “Being Alone Sucks,” talks about ways to improve you social life and chronicles what he calls the five critical components to social freedom.

LoDolce also gave tips on how to be personable, such as exuding good body language and not being afraid of rejection.

“People cannot force you to feel embarrassment,” he said. “You have to focus on the successes, not the rejections.”

The way to overcome social fears is to slowly expose yourself to those fears, he said. He suggested speaking to strangers as a starting point, then slowly progressing to approaching individuals that you are attracted to.

He said that his main goal is to build social confidence so that individuals can thrive in whatever it is they want to do.

Jessica Vickery, assistant director of health education and promotion, said that it was difficult to find a person who specialized in social interactions geared towards college students.

“Its important for our students to receive messages like this,” she said. “A lot of students need direction on how to improve their self confidence.”

The advice LoDolce gave could apply to everyday life, not just to dating, audience member Nikki Hillman said.

“I thought it was very practical advice,” she said. “He was right when he said that you have to be happy with yourself before you can contribute to a relationship or anything else.”

Audience member Sarah Lauridsen said it’s important for college students to hear messages like LoDolce’s because it is easy to get lost at large universities.

Lauridsen said she intends to try the social freedom challenge because it could really change her life.

Vickery said since the event was such a success, she hopes to have another speaker come and talk to more students about self-confidence.

“Self esteem is one of the most important things in life,” she said. “Like Adam said, you have to love yourself first.”