Freshmen are far too social. Within the first three weeks of my first year at Ohio University, I exchanged phone numbers with probably six dozen fellow freshmen. Many of these people I spoke with only once or twice, yet they remain in my cell phone's address book: Caroline
the sweet, almost excessively bubbly girl I met in the lunch line (we intended to get together for dinner, but somehow it never happened); Todd the sports fanatic I sat next to at the 2009 UConn vs. Ohio football game my very first day as an official OU student; a Katie who I don't believe I ever have texted intentionally, but have confused with the five other Katies in my phone countless times...
In order to distinguish between these recently added friends I assigned identifying adjectives or places with each contact. My newfound buddy Todd earned the name Drunk Todd after our second meeting, as he was, let's just say, incapable of standing up straight. Another contact in my phone is listed merely as Laundry Guy; we did laundry together during my second week of college and exchanged numbers - unfortunately, I forgot to ask his name.
In addition, every girl in college is bound to have at least one creeper. For almost a year, I received texts from Stranger. Somehow, this individual had mistaken my number for a friend's, and discovering that I was not Jacob
initiated a series of messages intended to weird me out.
To further the confusion, for reasons that seemed brilliant as freshmen, but since have escaped memory, folks in my dormitory building decided to assign new names to several individuals. Thus, Phoenix is actually Zach, Snowbunny is a Katie and Bambi - who assumes the alias Footlong
among many other intriguing nicknames - is really just plain Steve on his student ID card. Anyone going through my phone would think my friends are a bunch of animals!
Finally, every college student ought to have ChaCha listed as a contact. Text any question to this number (242-242), and typically a ChaCha Guide will respond within 30 seconds. While the answers aren't always reliable, ChaCha serves as a great form of entertainment during a boring lecture, or as the perfect distraction while waiting in line for Grab 'N Go.
For instance, I asked ChaCha why Ohio University is so awesome, and it replied, Because the students are well educated yet still have time for fun!
Mel Byko is a sophomore studying creative writing and columnist
for The Post. Tell her some more good questions for ChaCha at ab140409@ohiou.edu.
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Opinion
Mel Byko
