All about being awkward

Talk about awkward: sophomore Katherine Chin excitedly embraced her friend only to realize that her “friend” was actually a complete stranger. A dead silence enveloped the room as she fidgeted uncomfortably in her spot afterwards. Her eyes searched desperately for a place to look other than at the stranger. After what seemed like an hour, she apologized for giving the complete stranger a hug, attempting to explain that she looked just like her friend. With a questioning face the stranger nodded and quickly walked away.

“I just said sorry and we both blushed. And then she was just kind of like ‘oh, it’s okay,’ but you could tell she thought I was weird,” says Chin.

In high school, societal awkwardness is a topic that most students can relate to. Some students choose to confront the situation, making an attempt to decrease the level of awkwardness. “This one time when it was quiet, [one student] got up and blew her nose super loud in front of the whole class. It was awkward, but then everyone started to laugh,” says sophomore Jazmin Sacchi. “The best thing to do is yell out ‘awkward’ which makes it all different kinds of awkward, but then turns it into a funny moment.”

Sophomore Ashley Koh has learned how to deal with awkward moments through past experience. “This one time I was walking to class and I was almost late, so I was kind of running. I tried to squeeze through the doors after someone opened it, but my backpack got caught on the handle so I kind of bounced back and got stuck in between the doors. It was kind of embarrassing because the people behind me had to help me out since I couldn’t turn around and free myself. But after that I just laughed it off, because if you think about it, I must have looked really awkward,” says Koh.

Koh adds, “I think English class is when the most awkward situations occur, because you have to raise your hand a lot to gain participation points. A lot of times, I will raise my hand just because I’m desperate for more points and I will end up saying something completely irrelevant to the situation. It gets kind of awkward when you say something stupid or wrong and the whole class just stares at you quietly. But then you just have to laugh it off.”

“One time in Chemistry, I was drooling on my textbook and all of a sudden everyone noticed. I just tried to laugh it off and make a joke about it,” says sophomore Tina Pai.

Describing yet another method, freshman Alex Garcialuna says, “It’s best to just change the subject.”

Other students utilize a different strategy by trying to distance themselves from the situation. “I’d just walk away without saying anything, and if the person I was talking to called my name, I’d pretend I couldn’t hear them. Or I would pretend my phone was ringing and say I have to go,” says sophomore Ted Yang.

Preferring to use a unique method, sophomore Miles Lang says, “I try to make it more awkward and then say ‘hawkward’ while making a one-winged hawk with my hands. You have to make it more awkward so that the initial awkward level can’t compare.”

Senior Gemma Alcala views awkward situations in a completely different light as she says, “I don’t really feel awkward that often because I don’t care [about awkward moments].”

Awkward situations are certainly not limited to students as they can also occur between teachers and between students and teachers. “[If it’s between a students and a teacher] it’s probably one-sided. The student thinks it’s awkward, but the teacher doesn’t realize it,” says junior Jeffrey Bragg.

Physical education and health teacher Barbara Beaumont says, “I am very comfortable with my students, so I don’t have many awkward situations, or I don’t perceive them as awkward. With awkward situations I just try to make myself as comfortable as possible, and try to make the others involved as comfortable as I can as well. Laughing is always good medicine if it was funny; if you can laugh at yourself it helps.”

Though certainly not pleasant, awkward social situations are a common aspect of high school life. As they are difficult to avoid, it can be helpful to find a strategy one can use the next time one faces a socially awkward circumstance.