Is your name Hanna(h)? Probably. I know better than to exclude readers by addressing too specific of a group, but on this campus, I’m not worried. I could call your name from the top of the observatory or the fields of the BFEC, and at least two Hanna(h)s (henceforth known in this article simply as Hannahs) would still turn in anticipation before exchanging looks of confusion and settling on the fact that I was probably calling a different girl. I, myself, am guilty of addressing someone as Hannah purely because I forgot their name and, speaking statistically, Hannah was the safest guess. In fact, even my roommate, Hannah, struggles to remember which people on this campus have the same name as her. But not to worry, Hannah, you’re definitely not alone. Here are some encounters told by a few Hannahs of Kenyon, for the Hannahs of Kenyon! Even if you have another very common name (like Emma, or Alexandra, or Sarah), these will most likely sound very familiar to you.
A very well-known Hannah.
Source: Vk.com
HCK: “What’s the most challenging part about having one of the most common names on campus?”
Hannah: “I honestly think it’s the awkwardness of when someone says your name and you don’t know if they’re talking to you – but they usually aren’t. What’s worse is when a professor does roll call and all he says is ‘Hannah’ without any mention of a last name and you don’t know which one he means.”
HCK: “How many Hannahs were there in your high school grade?”
Hannah: “My class at my first school only had 8 people so I was the only Hannah. At my boarding school there might have only been 3. People are always like, “Is it weird to call other people your own name?”’ It’s not weird for me, because I just don’t think like that… my name doesn’t define me.”
HCK: “What do you like about your name?”
Hannah: “I like the fact that my name is a palindrome.”
HCK: “What has become your default reaction when someone calls your name but addresses someone else?
Hannah: “I usually respond as if they’re talking to me and then realize they’re not and then kinda just awkwardly turn away… or sometimes i just assume they’re talking to someone else and then don’t respond until they call my name a few times.”
HCK: “What’s the most uncomfortable experience you’ve had because of your name while on campus?”
Hannah: “I think the most upsetting thing is that my CA misspelled my name on my door even though I have the more common spelling… then again, I’ve been looking at the name Hannah so much that it doesn’t even look like a name anymore.”
HCK: “Jack is also a very common name on this campus, and the Jacks I know seem to have devised a pretty effective nickname system. If the Hannahs developed a nickname system, which Hannah would you be?”
Hannah: “I would be Turtle Hannah, because I have a really big backpack and I’m short!”
HCK: “If there was one thing you could have in common with people instead of your name what would it be?”
Hannah: “It would definitely be average height.”
HCK: “If you could victimize people with one name and make that name the most common on campus, which name would you choose and why?”
Hannah: “I would pick something really bizarre… I’ve met an unusual number of Fionas in the past few weeks and that’s not a common name but it seems to be here.”
HCK: “If you could get all the Hannahs on campus into one group and do a coordinated activity, what would it be?”
Hannah: “We would take over Hanna (the dorm), form a cult and just spray paint “H”’s all over campus… basically just dominate the school.”
While there are probably enough Hannah’s at Kenyon to form a cult (or at least a themed NCA), there are not many who haven’t shared in at least one of these confusing encounters. Take a note from the Kenyon Hannahs of the past, present, and future and embrace the commonality of your name!… or don’t, and use it as an icebreaker on campus… And yes, Hannah, I am indeed talking to you – or am I addressing the Hannah next to you?