As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing better than an awkward moment.

As we commence yet another semester in Chestnut Hill, I am convinced that nothing is better for the vacationing mind than to stand in line for an omelet next to the girl that may or may not have asked you at that party last night if you used magic to make your T-shirt so red.

For some, this might be the most comfortable of moments. For the rest of us, there's definitely an awkward vibe from standing next to our young heroine (as well as being subconsciously hilarious), a vibe that college students young and old really could not do without.

It starts, as most things do, in freshman year. Being that everyone is new to one another, the awkwardness is significantly amped up, possibly to higher levels than anyone can experience at any other point in life.

Class of 2010, you will look back on these first days a year from now and wonder exactly how you made it through. I myself remember walking through the seemingly barren halls of Cushing last year and seeing a few kids tentatively sitting around and talking. Should I go in? Is it wrong to just butt in on people and give them the same old speech about living down the hall, hailing from Connecticut, and enjoying sports? If I wasn't ready for that, I probably wouldn't have been able to go in. It would have certainly been a bit forward if I had jumped on somebody's bed and asked if they preferred their Cheetos crunchy or puffed.

At the same time, it's impossible to make friends unless one talks to people. No, the awkward sharing of hometowns and high schools is a necessary evil in the process of growing comfortable with college life. Before any of the aforementioned traditions can take place, one must spend at least a week sitting with complete strangers at meals and having the same conversation again and again. Otherwise, people would act generally inappropriate around one another and a good portion of freshmen would be worse off from their harsh college experience.

That's the thing about being awkward: It's a relatively comfortable way to learn more about people and help everybody ease into each other's lives.

Freshman year, however, is not where the story ends. As long as you're reintroducing yourself in this environment, there will be a certain degree of awkwardness involved, if only because going away for the summer sends people to separate lives. Sure, you may have stayed in touch with a bunch of friends over the summer, but for every person you talked to, there are three more that didn't cross your mind once until you stood next to them in line for a wrap.

Should you say "hi" to that girl that you may or may not have done a group project with last spring? What's the policy on asking that guy from your floor who nobody really knew about how much his books cost? Is it even appropriate to ask how much his books cost?

The answer to these questions, as it was freshman year, is yes (for the most part). Without awkward reintroductions, there's no way for us to evaluate our standing with people. Without awkward reintroductions, we would assume that people don't change from the end of one school year to the beginning of the next. It's also just the polite, friendly thing to do.

If there was a better way to sink back into campus life, it would certainly eclipse the awkwardness of the meetings and greetings that currently exists. There is, however, no other way. So, for the next week or so, grin and bear it as you continuously spout off where you live now and who your new roommates are. After all, it really is a hilarious process.


Dan Calanca is a Heights staff columnist. He welcomes comments at calancad@bcheights.com.

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