GroupMe vs. Real Life: All that You Thought You Knew

            New place. New pizzazz. And lots of new people. While some first-years spent their summers before college swimming and not stalking everyone with Duke ‘21 stamped in their Instagram bios, a lot of us gathered the grains of information available on social media. The first group is now innocently allowing everyone to scribble on their blank slates. The second, well, their slates aren’t so blank. Here are some of the people you “met” and then met.  

1. Do you ever say something that doesn’t end in a question mark?

The chick/dude who never knew what was going on. The one who was only typing if they were questioning. You imagine that this will be the same kid you’ll have to do the group project for because they seem so clueless, but when you actually match the name to a handshake, you are startled to discover they surprisingly have their life together.   

2. The paragraphs and paragraphs and paragraphs and and and and and

The know-it-all who always has something to say in every conversation. You see, “Blank is typing”, “Blank is typing”, “Blank is typing”, and suddenly an entire essay in perfect MLA format emerges. Hats off to everyone who actually read everything this person typed. Surprisingly, some of the people I’ve met who fell into this category turned out to be quiet, almost shy, students.

3. The sweetheart who talks the perfect amount

The one who makes comments consistently but doesn’t make you wonder if they live on their phone. I would say the majority of these people I’ve met in real life are exactly as I expected, but there are some who have been quite different. 

4. “Vote for me as student body president”

The debates between the individuals that fall in this group are always wonderfully entertaining. You can’t help mentally pondering if their big personalities will remain amusing or become a touch annoying. And, at least in my experience, most of them are gems.   

5. There is no way this person has their feet on planet earth.

The diva who never seems to care about real issues. Okay, so the first week here I met two of the people I labeled this way. And well…they were both super down to earth. In fact, one has become a very close friend.  

Ultimately, all of the various forms of social media that connected us before we stepped foot on campus allowed me, and many others, to create some great connections. But they also allowed us to misjudge others. Just remember, everyone deserves the chance to be remembered as Betty Joe MacSmith or Clifford Treehouse rather than PrincessSmiles1003 or The.Big.Red.Dog. Not allowing the mental lists of people we think we’ll like or dislike dictate our interactions is difficult, but it is the best option. I would not have one of my closest friends if I allowed a Groupme to decide my companions. In the next year, you will form friendships with people you thought you would dislike, people you thought you would like, and people who had no idea there was a Facebook group. You will begin unfriending people you planned to meet up with before classes started (and that’s okay. No one will notice…hopefully). Finding friends as a first-year can be a struggle for many. Don’t allow pre-established biases to limit you any further. Have fun meeting everyone in this crazy college world!        

• college
• first impressions
• freshman
• real life
• social media