Being awkward isn’t having one awkward moment on occasion, being awkward is feeling uncomfortable in your own skin. “OMG, I’m so awkward,” is a phrase that is heard all over college campuses, almost as if it’s a trend. However, being awkward is more than just a trend, it’s a lifestyle. Not only is it a lifestyle, but also it’s also a glorified one.

Being awkward is perceived as cute or the cool thing to be, but, in most cases, it’s not. Owning up to being awkward makes life less painful while you’re around people, but internally you’re dying inside. This feeling of dying inside really flourishes when people say, “Stop being so awkward.” If I could stop being awkward, I promise you that I would.

Thinking that you’re awkward and being awkward are two different things. For example, saying something stupid and then laughing saying, “I’m so awkward,” is thinking that you’re awkward. Eating dirt while walking up the stairs of the student union wearing crocs and having groups of people laughing at you is being awkward. (Yes, this did happen to me yesterday.) To make the situation more uncomfortable for everyone involved, I decided to give everyone the peace sign because, in my mind, that would make things less weird. It didn’t make things less weird.

On a more serious note, being awkward usually stems from having some type of problem. For me, it’s anxiety and low self-confidence. If I don’t want to be around people and I have to be, I’m very uncomfortable and, quite frankly, I just want to go home and take a nap. When I’m around new people, I usually don’t talk because I don’t know if I have anything “cool” enough to say.

To overcome being awkward you have to ask yourself: "Why do I care what other people think?" When you realize the answer is, "I don't know," it's not the time to change your personality, but to embrace it. This isn't making it a trend because this truly is who you are. You're not doing it for attention. In reality, there are other people who also feel like people are judging them constantly. In most cases, people don't care if what you say is cool. Sometimes, people even think "the weirder, the better." Being outgoing is one way to make being awkward less awkward. If we're being honest, there's nothing more awkward than being the person who is sitting there, not saying a word.

Getting through life while being awkward is knowing that if you can’t change it, you have to own it. In some cases, people actually think that being awkward is funny and you can use being awkward as a tool to make friends. For most people, being awkward is just a trend, but for some people, it’s a lifestyle.