Embarrassing moments seem to follow people around on a daily basis, some people more than others… it’s me, I am ‘some people’. Growing up I was always a clumsy and awkward kid, but it was not until college that I realized just how bad it was. I wish I could tell you that I have handled these moments with grace and regained my confidence, but if I were to say that, I would 100% be lying. The only thing I can say is, and I don’t mean to get to cliché here, embarrassing moments don’t define you and they aren’t the end of your life. You will be uncomfortable and in shock in the moment, but you will get through it and people will (hopefully) forget it even happened. In fact, you may come out and write a whole dang article about it. Here are my top 5 most embarrassing moments that I have had since coming to college.
- Blue Lace Underwear Make an Appearance on Campus
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I debated saving this one for last, because it is in fact the best… or worst, I guess? Anyway, I decided to just start this list off with a bang, and let me tell you, this one was rough. Picture this, sophomore year of college, living in the sophomore slums, a crisp fall day, busy studying for midterms. Little old me decided to multitask and be productive by doing laundry while studying. All was fine and dandy, I finished my studying and laundry, but now it was time to go to class. I grab a pair of leggings out of my freshly clean laundry, throw them on and head out the door… and this my friends, is where it all begins. I leave my apartment and I am casually walking down the street when I start to notice people from every part of the street just staring at me. And it’s not a casual stare, it is a FULL ON head turn, eyes following me. Granted, I knew I looked rough that day because I was lacking in sleep and it was midterms season, but there was NO need for this amount of staring. The rest of my day carried on with classes and constant stares, and finally it was over and time to head back to my apartment. I get back into my room and I am putting my stuff down when all of a sudden I felt something brush the back of my leg. Initially I freak out because I think it’s a bug, but low and behold, there is a pair of blue lace underwear on the ground. I had just walked around an entire day with blue. lace. underwear. hanging off the back of my leg.
- The Slip and Trip ft. a UW Athlete
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The next embarrassing moment that I have to share is a little, or a lot, different than the last one. Mostly because it involves not only me, but a UW Madison athlete. I am not going to disclose the sport or the name because this was already embarrassing enough without any name dropping. This took place in the roughest of years, freshman year of college. That April, we got hit with a nice spring blizzard, so the day was already not going all too great. I woke up late, and had to rush out the door and basically sprint from my dorm to my class. I threw on a jacket and made the mistake of wearing cute boots instead of actual winter boots that had even a small bit of traction for the slippery and snowy sidewalks. Big mistake. I was almost to class and I was about to cross my last crosswalk, but I noticed the timer for the walk sign was going down. I pick up the pace to a light jog and I am just entering the crosswalk when I suddenly feel my foot slip out from under me, and I knew I was going down. The fall was quite possibly the most dramatic fall I have ever had and it felt like it was in slow motion. Not only did I fall, but I as I was flying back, my head hit and landed on the foot of an athlete. They were super nice about it and helped me get up, but I had absolutely no dignity left at that point. I wiped the snow off and continued on my way to class, red faced and in complete shock. Then, the situation got worse when I realized that the athlete was in my class and had begun telling all of their friends what happened and for the rest of the class I received stares and laughs. In a Hallmark movie this would have been a romantic moment, but I can tell you that the fall was the complete opposite and something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
- Beware of Winter and Tile Stairs
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This next moment, ironically enough, happened the same semester as the slip and trip. Clearly second semester of freshman year was really testing me. Another day, another spring storm and another morning running late. I woke up way later than I needed to, especially considering I had a 30 minute walk to class, so it was time to Usain-Bolt-it and sprint to class as fast as I physically could. I was already five minutes late to class, but I finally got to the building where class was, and decided the best idea in that moment would be to have a second wind and full on sprint to my lecture room. I made it to the room, opened the door and began the dreaded search for an open seat. Target acquired, I find an open seat and begin the descent down the tile stairs with a pep in my step. Bad idea, yet again. The lecture had already begun, so the room was silent other than the professor talking, and down I go. I slip and fall, similar to a cartoon banana peel slip, and tumble onto my butt, Hydro Flask flying out of my backpack and making an even louder noise as it falls to the ground. When I tell you that every single head in the room turned my way at once, I mean it. I tried to make some cheesy choke and laugh it off, but my ego (and my butt for that matter) was bruised.
- Sleeping in Physics Will Do You No Good
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I take full blame for this moment, because as much as I don’t want to admit it, this was my fault. I stayed up too late the night prior, binge watching Friends as basic girls like myself do, and soon found out that was a big mistake. I was tired the ENTIRE day after and I had classes consecutively from the time I woke up untill physics was over at 5:15. I went through spurts where my energy level was okay, but come my physics lecture, that was not the case. First of all, the heat in the room was cranked up and the chairs were squishy and comfortable, which didn’t make trying to stay awake any easier whatsoever. I kept doing the weird dozing in and out head bob/eye flutter move. I would wake up, stay awake for a couple minutes, then fall back into the bob until the bob turned into a full blown disaster. I was leaning my head on my hand, my head slipped forward out of my hand and when I say slammed onto the table in front of me, I mean SLAMMED. Not only did the room go dead silent and everyone stared at me, but I ended up with a nice ol’ bruise on my forehead for the next week. This one was a short and sweet storytime, but I can tell you, it was not short or sweet when it happened.
- Baby Badger Spills The Beans at Gordon’s
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Wow, finally we made it to number five, it seemed like this would never happen. The sad part is, I could make this list SO much longer but I decided to spare you and my dignity the troubles. This last one was a Sharpay and Gabriella cafeteria scene straight out of High School Musical. I had just finished getting my beautiful bowl of stir fry, grabbed a drink and a side, and was headed towards the checkout when I heard someone yell my name. Rather than stopping and turning around like a person with any ounce of common sense would do, I kept walking forward and just turned my head around to see who had called my name. Big mistake. I ran straight into someone else, knocking over not only my own tray, but the other person’s tray as well. At this point it is a score of Trays: 2, Rachel: 0. I immediately began apologizing because, well, HELLO, I just spilled my food on this person and knocked over their entire tray of food in a matter of 30 seconds. The girl was not happy with me, and rightly so, but I can tell you right now that the tension and discomfort was just as bad regardless of how many times I said “I’m Sorry.” Gordon’s is normally loud, and when our trays collided, that changed and you could hear a pin drop it was so silent. It was truly so dang embarrassing and thinking about it now gives me goosebumps, woah. Anyways, safe to say I haven’t been to Gordon’s since, which really sucks because I do love the stir fry.