Five Weeks In: Lessons Learned

September is coming to an end, which means for us freshmen that we’ve all completed our first full month here at college! Even though I’m giving serious thought as to how I’ve accomplished this feat, here’s some more wisdom I’ve picked up in the last few weeks.

1. Master the art of quickly switching Internet tabs from BuzzFeed to an educational website whenever somebody walks past your computer screen in the quiet room of Lamont.

You know you have the worst luck in all of the world when people never walk past you when you’re focusing on your Latin translation, but they do right in that moment when you happen to be taking a break and you’re emphatically nodding your head in complete agreement to a BuzzFeed article titled “27 Struggles That Lactose-Intolerant People Know All Too Well.” No words can express how embarrassed I felt when I saw the guy walking past my computer screen making a valiant effort to stifle his laughter at the image of me scrolling through my article whispering “Preach it” every five seconds under my breath. Don’t worry, I’ve thoroughly learned my lesson that I should probably have the iSite of one of my classes open at all times to prevent myself from becoming a public humiliation at Lamont.

2. Be a part of group iMessages to look popular in front of people.

I absolutely hate it when I’m talking to a friend and we both hear an iPhone ringtone and check our phones, only to realize that it’s not mine. Or when I’m checking my phone during class in a crowded lecture to see if anyone texted me, and the two people to my left and right can see how unpopular I am since I have zero notifications. Luckily, I’ve learned the beauty of group iMessages recently, through chats between my best friends from high school, my suitemates, and friends in my entryway. For instance, the question “Who wants to get lunch right now?” elicits about 10 replies in our entryway group iMessage, making my phone go off nonstop and therefore filling me with a false and lame sense of short-lived popularity.

3. Find out who’s in charge of the HUDS playlist and befriend him or her immediately.

I was standing in front of the water dispenser at Annenberg a couple of weeks ago, wondering if I had the patience to wait in line for my usual “chilled still” water or if I should just go for the underappreciated and uncomfortably lukewarm “ambient still” option. In the midst of coming to the pathetic realization that I have way too much time on my hands to be having an internal debate about my water options, I literally perked up when I heard my favorite Lana Del Rey blasting in the dining hall. I thought it was merely a lucky coincidence that HUDS knew exactly what I’d wanted to listen to on that day, but I was completely wrong. A couple of days after that, HUDS threw it back at dinner with some Destiny’s Child (who doesn’t love old school Beyonce?), helping me get through my typical “Why is it Tuesday and not Friday” sadness. So this is a shout-out to whoever is in charge of the playlist at Annenberg: thank you for making my day with your eclectic mix of childhood pop, alternative music, and everything in between.