5 Ways to Avoid Awkward Encounters on Campus

They are never fun (awkward encounters)… It may be an ex-girlfriend, an annoying classmate from three semesters ago, or that person you need to avoid from the weekends festivities.

Here are five ways you can dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge out of an awkward encounter on campus:

Fake a Text
Technology can be a sin, but it can also be an even bigger life saver. This one is simple: head down, type. Heck, with the numerous applications on our phones these days, you can be texting, Tweeting, Facebook-ing, Instagram-ing, Snapchat-ing, and so on! Just keep in mind, when you’ve passed the incoming awkward encounter, I would highly advise popping your head up before you walk into a vending machine…

Earphones In! Music time.
Not listening to music? That’s not a reasons to take those little buds out of your ears. Nobody really knows if you’re listening to music, or just trying to distract yourself to avoid someone. So for precaution, keep those buds in your ears between classes and if you see someone approaching, bob your head and put yourself into an iPod commercial with Daft Punk (Circa 2005).

“Sorry! Late for class.”
This one is easy considering you are a student and on campus. Nobody has your schedule memorized and if they do, you can always be “late for a group project meeting”. Just keep in mind, classes always start at the bottom of the hour, so your incoming target will know something is fishy if it’s 1:00pm and your “rushing” to class!

Tunnel Vision
The halls are often packed in between classes with tens or hundreds of students. It’s easy to walk by someone without even recognizing them. So if your eyes catch someone down the hall you need to avoid, turn on that tunnel stare, look 5 meters ahead, and keep walking! Please note the importance of keeping your eyes straight ahead. Even the slightest piece of eye contact with the individual is considered a form of aknowledgement and can be viewed as rude and disrespectful if ignored. So should you slip and make that eye contact, turn on that fake smile and give out a quick awkward wave.

Embrace Being a “Space Cadet“
There’s no shame in hiding it! It may have been a late night of drinking, or you’ve been cramming for an exam with no sleep, or maybe you’ve just come out of a 3 hour statistics class like myself. There’s many reasons a student might be feeling brain dead and look like a space cadet in the halls. Embrace the zombie-like look, lose awareness of where you are, turn on a blank stare, and keep walking like you can barely detect movement around you.

Those are five of my go-to techniques to avoiding awkward encounters. Let me know which one is your favourite and if you have any of your own awkward encounter evasion techniques, share them with a comments below!