Issue 01 - Loneliness

Bumping into people I knew meant lots of
heys and hellos and how are yous, always
parting on “We should catch up sometime”
and “I’ll see you soon,” promises that would
rarely be fulfilled. Everyone was always going
somewhere, running on their own ticking
timeline—“I wish I could talk more but I’m
late to class!”—like invisible stopwatches
that were always just a few seconds apart.
Friendships that seemed obvious (“I share
three classes with her; we’ll probably end
up close”) never seemed to blossom in the
right way, and the ones that were random
and utterly spontaneous seemed to take off
more than the obvious choices. Was I doing
something wrong?
Through the ups and downs of my freshman
semesters, I realized little by little that a
college experience was never going to fit my
high school expectations.
SO I AM LIFTING
THE COOKIE
CUTTER THIS
YEAR.
I don’t have a friend type. I don’t have one
group. I freely engage in multiple circles and
still other shapes, aiming to diversify, aiming
to build a kaleidoscope of personalities
whose experiences I can learn from and
dance among. College is still a sea of people,
but I’m finding my way through.
My college social experience so far was not
fitting into the mold that I had brought from
high school.
Written by Trevina Tran
Photography feat. Monique Nguyen
06