DO | Let’s be Friends

Late August and non-frozen-hellscape weather once again mark the start of a brand new school year. A fresh set of classes to attend to diligently, new dorm rooms to christen with unwashed laundry and a fervor for the spirit of academic exploration that runs through our Big Red veins. Not to mention, a whole new cohort of bright-eyed freshmen embarking on their college journeys — all in the surveillance test-free comfort of their brand-spanking-new dorms and boujee pastry cafes. Back in my day, North Campus was a pile of dirt, rock, machinery and cigarette butts. These whippersnappers just don’t know how good they have it.

Olguín | Friendships of Proximity

My high school English literature teacher still lives in my mind. Somewhere in between telling us what cocktail drink we most represent and breaking down Camus, he wiggled himself into my brain, and I haven’t been able to think the same since. He was the person who broke the news to everyone sitting in his senior English class that after graduating high school, we wouldn’t talk to the majority of our friends.

ONONYE | Creating Connections, Mask Edition

Last week, I thought I saw one of my good friends in Zeus. By good, I mean actually good. We were in the same new member class for our law fraternity, we currently sit on an E-board together and he’s a great mentor to my younger brother. But, I ended up waving at a stranger whose confused face confirmed that he was not my friend, which prompted me to scramble into a seat hoping that no one around me saw the awkward interaction. I proceeded to text my friend to tell him about the horrific moment. 

Confusing a stranger with my good friend is just another example of the awkwardness that is masked interactions.