I found myself alone in my room on a Friday night. Outside, the bass line of some top 40s song shook my windowsill too much for my anxiety to subside. People around me were “turning up,” and I wasn’t a part of it. Cuddling up with Netflix, I was too content to leave my bed, yet deep inside, I felt a sense of guilt, a fear of missing out ; on the friendships I was supposed to make, on the parties happening out there. After all, weekend nights out are the epitome the college experience, aren’t they?

Having gone to boarding school for my past 4 years, I perfectly understand the pressure of being “social.” Of course, boarding school is an imperfect representation of college; less booze, more angsty teenagers impatient to gyrate crotches on a sweaty dance floor, and of course, more judgment. Yet, both boarding school and college boil down to the same concept; being surrounded for periods of time that are way too long by peers of the same age…sort of like a Lord of the Flies scenario, minus the bloodshed. However, while we grew out of the high school phase, what most people would refer to as “the dark ages,” our anxiety never really left us. Most of us have watched Mean Girls too many times not to remember the scene where Cady Heron eats her lunch in a bathroom stall, because God forbid, one must never eat alone.