“It’s such a big campus, you’ll never see them!” Wrong. You’ll see them everywhere. They just keep popping up as if they’re following you. As soon as you don’t want to see someone, that’s when you’ll see them the most. When these unfortunate encounters happen, you’ll have to think quickly and either do one of three things: try to hide, act as if you didn’t see them or you’ll accidentally make direct eye contact.
Hiding
There are three main approaches to hiding from someone on campus: using your hand to cover your face, pulling a friend in front of you or literally ducking around a corner to avoid being seen. Of the three, the hand-over-face move tends to be the most time-efficient.
Hiding can be a solid option, especially when you spot someone who you know is going to come over and try to start a conversation. Maybe you don’t feel like talking, or maybe you’re just not in the mood to interact at all. Either way, being seen is a non-negotiable.
Pretending like you never saw them
Quickly turning your head away and averting your eyes, almost like a, “If I can’t see you, you can’t see me.” This is also a very time-friendly and effective solution. Turning your head away and all of a sudden noticing how interesting the sky looks because, if you don’t look at them, there’s no awkward interaction, and it was almost like they were never even there.
Or maybe you pull out your phone and start browsing the weather app. All of a sudden, you just had an interest in what the wind chill was.
Accidental eye contact
When seeing someone you don’t want to see on campus, you are likely going to look them dead in the eyes by accident and have to resort to one of the other two options. Although eye contact is bound to happen, it’s one of the worst things that can happen.
Once eye contact is made, you’re both aware of the other’s presence. Either one of you will approach the other, or you’ll both avoid the other while continuing to make awkward eye contact to see where the other is.
It’s inevitable
Walking on campus or going into popular stores or restaurants, you’re vulnerable to running into anyone you’ve ever met while attending college. You could see someone from your first date freshman year, or someone you met in class last week.
Either way, when running into people you know, for some reason, it’s the people you had hoped to never see again that you’ll see everywhere.
What’s your experience with seeing unwanted faces on campus? Let us know on Instagram @VALLEYmag!
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