While most people think first impressions have a huge impact in their relationship with new people, I would like to tell everyone that is not the case. I consider myself  the queen of horrible first impressions and I still manage to have friends (a miracle). The reason for that is because first impressions do not matter as much as people make them out to matter.  I have been at Masters for more than two years now and I can assure you that 90% of the people whom I am friends with would tell you that they thought that I was weirdest person when they first met me.

Of course, I am not blaming them because whenever I remember something I said to people I have just met, I just want to dig a hole and hide in it forever. Let me start with my first day at Masters, which was the international student orientation day. I chose to have my hair down thinking that “it looked prettier”. Now you might be thinking to yourself, “What is weird about that?” My hair is the type that should never ever be down. Because it is very frizzy and curly, it looked like there was a bush twice my size attached to my head. Even if I were to act normal, people still probably would have judged me by my hair.

However, not only did I look weird but I also failed at interacting with people. I could never hear what people were saying so the conversation would just consist of me screaming “WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”  Not only that, I also misunderstood people even when I heard them. I remember once, one of my closest friends (she did not know me at the time) asked me “Do we class next or lunch?” and my answer was “Yes.”  As you can see, I managed to do the all the awkward things one can do.

So do not worry if you think you are being weird when you first meet someone; it only means that you’ll have things to remember and laugh at in the future.