Awkward Freshman Moments

We all remember freshman year. Your young, hopeful self, so full of optimism and excitement, not yet aware of the sometimes less-than-appealing Berg food (can we please have another conversation about grapes on pizza?!), the endless p-sets, and the insane amount of time spent in Lamont crying. Some of us probably wish we could go back to our optimistic, naive freshman self. Others of us, well, we remember the less commemorable aspects of freshman year that easily alleviate any FOMO we might have. Here are a few awkward freshman moments we should all be grateful to be rid of…

Move-In

Move-in day is very exciting for most freshmen. You get to meet your suitemates for the first time, filled with hopefulness that these people will be your bridesmaids/groomsmen and you’ll never want for another friend again in your life. While you now know that this was wishful thinking and probably have your fair share of horror stories, there was no dimming the optimism as you got to your new home for the coming year. However, the deterioration of the optimism is rapid, as you’re put in a room with a bunch of people you know little to nothing about, all of whom are trying to decide which desk is theirs, what to do with the dressers, and where to put the excess of suitcases sitting in the common room. It’s chaos, and you find yourself not knowing whether or not to advocate for yourself or sacrifice your comfort in order to start out on a good note with your roommates. Parents are spewing out ideas and you don’t even know any of their names. Once the room is finally figured out and everyone is a little more quiet, you get acquainted with your roommates for the first time under the watchful gazes of parents, siblings, and maybe even a grandparent. Do you hug? What do you ask? What is there to talk about? Maybe you ramble about your flight in order to fill the silence, but there’s no denying it. It’s awkward. And it only gets worse from there.

New Names

Remember the conversation you had at least a thousand times in the first few weeks at school? The one where you’d be at some sort of freshman event, and you’d make awkward eye contact with someone. You go over and introduce yourself, starting the very basic and tiresome Harvard introduction, that you will surely repeat for your next four years. What’s your name? Where are you from? What are you thinking about concentrating in? Oh, interesting. Yesss, I’ve met a few people planning on concentrating in Government with a secondary in Economics. Etc. Etc. The people, concentrations, and places all started to blur together after a couple dozen introductions, and you find yourself forgetting the name of the person halfway through the conversation. Do you ask again? What if you see them again and they ask if you remember them and you don’t even know their name? Do you ask again? After all of these contemplations, you realize you had missed what they had answered to the last couple of questions, and you’re now entirely screwed. The conversation is now a dumpster fire and you find yourself awkwardly nodding along.

Do I Wave?

Saying “hi” or waving to people you have had brief interactions such as the one above can be a dangerous business. Since everyone has had so many similar conversations, it’s hard to remember exactly who you have enough of a relationship with to greet on a daily basis. You pass by someone you know that you’ve met, but you’re not sure whether or not to wave. You think it through as you contemplate whether or not to greet them. Are they looking at me? Do they remember me? What if I wave and they think I’m weird because they don’t remember me? You finally decide to do a little smile and say hi as you pass them, but nothing comes in return. No smile, no wave, no hi back. Did they not notice it? Did they think you weren’t talking to them? The people around you are giving you a hard time for it, and you’re thinking about how you will never wave to anyone again.

Dorm Parties

Dorm parties were a necessity for your first year. You met new people, tried new things, and really started taking advantage of the college experience. Unfortunately, because of the watchful eyes of the proctors, the parties had to be decently quiet. This led to an environment prone to awkwardness. Music barely playing, conversations solely surrounding school and the basic aspects of a person, it became an environment for the iconic Harvard freshman conversations to be had and little more. Or, if you decided to take the risk and have an actual party, it usually was ended by a proctor in thirty minutes or less. Yay Harvard! College is crazy!

While these moments are necessary, character-building, and sometimes funny, I think I speak for most of us when I say that I’m happy to be past that stage of my college experience. It gets better, freshmen. I promise, it does.