I won’t sugar coat anything here, college is weird. It is a time where you are supposed to go to school to learn about your glorious major, but really you will learn so much more than that.

While learning that you can’t get up before 9 a.m. or refuse to do a homework assignment less than an hour before it’s due… college is a time where more awkward situations will ever happen.

Don’t worry, because what is awkward in real life is normal in college. Don’t take a Xanax yet because I am about to fill you in on what really IS NOT awkward.

To avoid all awkwardness from the beginning, know your campus. Try to visit and get familiar with the campus and surrounding area ahead of time, like before you ask five or six people where the library is. It’s one less thing you have to worry about on top of everything else. Also, it can give you a bit of an advantage if you’re the person who can show people a good time, or even where the library is.

Now that you have a foundation to not be totally humiliated, lets get down to business.

Holding A Door Open For Someone is Not Awkward.
You’re walking into your dorm, or maybe the campus center building, and there’s someone behind you. Not like right behind you, but just far enough back that you don’t want to wait for them. News flash, in college you should wait and hold the door. Let me leave you with this about holding doors… if the person behind you is more than five steps away, just close the door behind you. If they’re five steps or less away, hold the door open. Oh yeah also, don’t be rude when someone holds the door open for you and forget say thank you.

Walk of Shame is Not Awkward.
It’s happened to the best of us. You got a little to drunk on a Friday night and ended up in well, not your bed, which forces you to make the long walk of shame back to your apartment in last night’s clothes. Still a little drunk, you stagger back home in your dress holding your shoes in one
hand and purse in the other (or, even worse, still in theme-party attire) while people stare. Hold your head up high and make it back to your place as fast as possible. If you can, try to take a different route where you wont see the usual friends who will call you out. However, you should be calling them out because you got some and they didn’t.

Introducing Yourself In Class/Icebreakers is Not Awkward.
Yes, in high school Icebreakers were weird. But lets be honest, it’s the first day of classes, you still haven’t adjusted to waking up for class, and you just want to get your syllabus and get out of there. But wait, it’s that time to stand up and tell all these strangers around you where you are from and what your favorite color is. This is what we all know as literally the worst thing ever. You don’t plan on getting to know anyone well enough to need to know the five different nicknames they go by. Then you try to come up with a fun fact about yourself. You’ve got nothing. The only way to make this as painless as possible is to just sit and practice saying you’re name and major in your head, because you definitely don’t want to forget that. I do suggest you add a hobby, or favorite food. You never know, that stranger sitting next to you may ask you to his Fraternity dance. Point is, Icebreakers are way less freaky incollege.

Eating Alone is Not Awkward.
It’s your first 8 a.m. and you are hungry. You are out of instant oatmeal that your mom sent in your care package and frankly, you just can bother, it’s too early. A light bulb goes off… the dinning hall is open. But you’re alone. And according to your whole life, it’s weird to eat alone. Plot twist… Your going to find you are alone a lot of the time in college. I mean it is a time in our life where we become most independent. When you realize you’re completely over eating your nature valley breakfast bar for breakfast, grow a pair and walk yourself down to the dinninghall. I assure you, you will not be the only one alone at a table. On the plus side, the dinning hall is a great place to meet new people. Or even wave to a sorority sister, imagine that? Waving to your sister… unheard of.

Group Work is Not Awkward.
Oh god, did you just hear your professor say form a group of two to three? Don’t panic. Group work in college is inevitable and you will be thrown into a group, consisting of strangers, for a project that may even be 70 percent of your grade. Again, don’t panic. If you really don’t know anyone in your group, not evens someone you have taken a handle pull with, partner up and learn a little bit about the people you’re working with, and get going. You may even find that you are carrying more than your fair share of work, and at that time you would want to (nicely) mention so.

Running Into a Hookup is Not Awkward.
You’re walking out your front door, on campus or hanging out at a party when all of a sudden you recognize your one-night stand or college hookup. Or, evenworse, you realize mid-conversation that the guy you’re talking to looks familiar… because the last time you saw him, you were in the midst of a very sloppy, make-out session with him. Although you may be panicking on the inside, remain calm and keep your cool. Trust me, you are not the only one running into your hookups. But… as soon as you can, excuse yourself and make a quick getaway.

Ending Up at a Party Alone is Not Awkward.
Oh, so you must be the wanderer of the friend group. Somehow you endup at a house party all by your lonesome, and it feels like everyone else knows someone but you, trust me… this will happen. You’re awkwardly standing in a corner, snap chatting, trying to group text your roommates, clutching your cup and debating whether or not to attempt to slip out unnoticed. While it can be tempting to get the f*ck out of there, college is all about stepping out of your comfort zone, and this situation is the perfect opportunity to branch out. Stay a while, mingle, take a couple shots, and enjoy.

Awkward or not awkward, it is what you make out of it.

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