One of the things I hate the most is admitting when I’m wrong. There is something so inherently frustrating about not only coming to the realization that I am incorrect, but actually professing it is just as aggravating. Therefore, you all should know how difficult it is for me to say that I, Brooklyn Girl, was catastrophically incorrect about college.
My thought that college was a far away land, which was completely different from high school, was just plain wrong. This issue enrages me to no end! I am so frustrated with the schoolyard whispers, judgmental voices, boy dominance, drunken sloppiness, and the simple immaturity. I thought that the stereotypical “mean girls” cliques didn’t exist in college, “silent treatments” were thought of as overrated, and alcohol limitations were understood. From my experience, this is apparently not true.
I want to be clear; I am not establishing myself as someone who is somehow “above” high school, but I think my fellow freshman, and even myself, need to take a few minutes (or, perhaps longer for some folks) to think about why we chose to attend the 23rd best ranked college, according to the 2014 U.S. News and World Report, but we still act like petty high school students.
Just from my limited experience here at Wake, I have encountered and personally experienced situations I thought I had left behind me in high school. Am I the only female Deacon who feels these situations need to go?
*Image from inside.akronchildrens.org
- “He doesn’t like her though…”
I was shocked when a freshman girl, we’ll call her Mandy, just casually gave this explanation regarding why one of her friends, let’s call her Sarah, was being “stupid” about a boy. The first night of Orientation, (which, let’s face it, no good decisions come from this night) Sarah and a boy shared a hook-up and neither had talked to the other since then. Mandy felt she had the right to tell Sarah and myself that liking this boy is “stupid because the guy doesn’t even like her.”
My question: why does Mandy even care? Why does anyone care to voice their obnoxious opinion about the situation, other than Sarah? I thought we had left the immature stage where our personal relationships were the talk of the town. I am reluctant to report that this isn’t the first, or last instance, something like this will happen.
- “We are not talking right now…”
How many girls have uttered these words in their lifetime? Everything is going along great. He texts you, telling you where he is and asking you to come. You guys meet up to do homework together in the library or Campus Grounds on weeknights. Finally, one fateful night, the hook-up finally happens. You practically float back to your room thinking, “This is my first college relationship!”
Unfortunately for some, this elation is short lived. The texts become few and far between and he may even begin to dodge you on campus. When your friends badger you on your relationship, you’re reduced to saying, “We are not talking right now.” Awkward, right!? You swallow your pride and are left with the one embarrassing option: asking mutual friends what happened. I thought that by coming to college, personal relationships would – gasp! – remain personal.
*Image from weheartit.com
- “I am not sure if that’s dancing or not?”
Was there some common agreement all teenagers signed regarding our dancing that I somehow missed? Am I supposed to not actually dance but bounce and “grind” up and down to a rhythm on a boys’ lap? Is this our generation’s way of saying that Miley Cyrus and Snooki are good role models and we should be twerking?!
Upon entering my first college frat party, I didn’t really know what to expect. To my surprise, I walked down the slick stairs to a basement and, low and behold, everyone on the dance floor was grinding. I was instantly transported back to my first high-school dance freshman year. I do not think that this is the type of shouting/singing/loving the music dancing I imagined would exist in college.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved high-school – I just thought college would be completely different. All I spoke about the last three months of high-school was about how excited I was to escape…but, it seems I haven’t escaped the silly cattiness or sloppy dancing at all. I wonder if it ever really goes away. I surely hope this Class of 2017 can move forward from our “high school selves” very soon! I think for the sake of Wake Forest we have to…
‘Till Next Time,
Brooklyn xoxo