Clans on Campus

 

Your college experience depends purely on the kind of friends you keep. Vatsala
Chhibber introduces you to the different cliques in college to help you make the
right friendships

The Barbie Dolls

This group is easy to spot with their poker straight hair, branded bags and oversized glares. They generally travel in cars and avoid the sun. Their other interests, apart from air conditioning, include shopping, boys and gossip. They always address each other with affectionate names, even during a fight (sweetie, babe, hun, etc).
Befriend Them If: You have a platinum credit card – outings will never be cheap.
Avoid Them If: You have acne or you can spell. They’ll look right past you.

The Out-of-Towners

Students who have left their home towns and come to the city for their education are generally drawn to each other. Their friendship is strengthened by shared issues like rent, food, bills, etc. Since most of them are under no parental guidance, they are free from the constraints of curfews and deadlines. Since they have to manage their money, they usually find cheap but exciting forms of entertainment.
Befriend Them If: You want access to inexpensive parties and a house to crash at.
Avoid Them If: You don’t want to risk lending money (they might ask for small loans now and then), can’t stand messy houses and don’t want to get involved in roommate fights.

The Activists

No they will NOT eat at McDonalds, they will NOT buy leather, they will NOT waste paper on assignments and they will NOT bathe for days. They comprise the small percentage of youth that know exactly what they want to do with their lives – make a difference one protest at a time.
Befriend Them If: You a re passionate about a cause and have a voice loud enough to shout slogans.
Avoid Them If: You enjoy eating meat. They will NOT tolerate you.

The Over-Enthusiastic Group

You can recognise this group through their constantly raised hands, jumping movements and voices as animated as characters from Disney movies. There
are times when you might wonder if they are human due to their unrealistic energy levels. You will find their name in any volunteer list – for college festivals, social service groups, library monitors, etc.
Befriend Them If: You can invest in a lifetime supply of Red Bull and can remember more than 800 names and faces.
Avoid Them If: You like to sleep on weekends

The Invisible Group

This group, much like Halley’s Comet, is an extremely rare sight. You will spot this group only on the following occasions: assignment submissions and examinations (sometimes not even then). The rest of the time this group can be seen at their favourite haunt – which could be a coffee shop or the bus stop near your college.
Befriend Them If: You ever manage to find them.
Avoid Them If: You’re scared of being on the blacklist, being asked to call your parents or expulsion from college.

The Twosome

They spend their college lives oblivious of the people around them. The twosome could consist of a romantic couple or just two ‘buddies’. All activities such as travelling to college, attending lectures, working on assignments (sometimes even visiting the washroom) are performed together. If one of them falls sick, the other avoids college till he/she recovers.
Befriend Them If: You have no one else to hang out with.
Avoid Them If: In every circumstance.

 

Volume 2 Issue 8