Conversation
When I say I ran into my English teacher today, I do almost mean it in the literal sense. I was biking and he was driving, the corner was rather blind, and we both swerved and braked in emergency avoidance maneuvers. We casually chatted afterwards, but I the pounding heart-rates of both parties precluded the pretenses most people usually observe in polite conversation. I guess I am a bit socially awkward, not really in a debilitating sense, but still an inconvenience I could do without. My mantra is and almost always has been, be yourself. You can turn up the volume and turn down the volume on the traits, characteristics, and actions that make you as the situation dictates, but you should always go with being you. “Me,” as I currently stand, is a little bit awkward. The price of sincerity, I guess.
After my dental applications, I will cross my fingers waiting for an intereview, which I have been informed will most likely occur. In the interview situation, it is simultaneously important to be oneself, to avoid social awkwardness, and to keep the volume on one’s personality to an elevator music level. Be smart. Be appropriately funny. Make polite conversation. Know things about your surroundings. Do this all in the situation where, similar to my experience of almost running into a car, your heart is racing and your thought process is an adrenaline-blurred mush.
The worn out adage goes “practice makes perfect,” so I will do my best. Hearts racing, we dive into the excitingly-blurry future, hoping to surface where we intended. Or at least we’ll say that’s where we meant to go.