Being an incoming student at a university with over 40,000 other peers can be a pretty daunting experience. Among all the new obstacles you will have to learn to traverse while you are pursuing a degree, finding your friend group can be one of the hardest. Who we choose to surround ourselves with is important to our success as growing adults and aspiring professionals. The first interactions we have with our peers can be the difference between social inclusion and social exclusion. There are a lot of pieces that go into our first impressions: hair, facial expressions, body language, tone, but most importantly; what we decide to wear speaks volumes about ourselves. If you don’t believe me, walk down frat row on any given Friday night and tell me these guys and girls don’t look like they all shopped at the same gap and JC penny. But don’t worry! As a seasoned veteran of first impressions, I want to lend you my advice for successfully creating your new friend group within the first week of class, just by what you wear.
Buying a fresh new outfit to show out can be ridiculously expensive. A new pair of Nikes can easily set you back $100 and a designer jacket/hoodie can be more than what most people make in a week! So how are you to find your new friends if you can’t look the part? Easy, go to your local costume store or online retailer and buy yourself a nice, soft, vegetable or fruit costume. You can quite simply purchase a pea pod costume for a fraction of the price that you would spend on any given pair of shoes or jacket. But why would you do that? Simple, you are different and unique, if you have the confidence to rock a bright red apple costume while walking down state street there is no doubt in my mind that you will make an incredible first impression that won’t be soon forgotten. Furthermore, you should want to surround yourself with equally confident people so when you see that yellow banana bouncing down Bascom hill, you will know who you will be your new best friend. Even if you are the only piece of Broccoli in a sea of ripped skinny jeans, backward hats, grey sweat pants, and expensive T-Shirts, I can full-heartedly promise that you will be approached by complete strangers that want to know what’s so different about you.
Furthermore, the type of fruit or vegetable you decide to wear can say things about you that name brands just cant. You think you’re a bit of a book worm, apple. What if you are full of life want to live it up, why not a bright, tangy orange? College is to be the best years of your academic experience, start it off RIPE (that’s a play on words, if you know you know).
