1. On the first day of school, professors will either butcher your name or refer to you by your last name.
"Oh... um... ok, I'm sorry, but I have no idea how to pronounce your name. *insert last name*" has been heard umpteen times on the first day of class. Not to mention, the myriad of ways professors have tried to pronounce it. I've gotten pronunciations from "close, but no" to "not close at all."
2. And it's a miracle when your professor pronounces your name correctly without needing to ask you.
Four years in college and I have only had a small handful of professors correctly pronounce my name on the first day. Each time, I could pretty much hear the Hallelujah Chorus playing in the background.
3. The numerous misspellings from friends, peers, and baristas.
Going to Starbucks isn't a walk in the park when they try to interpret what your name is and make you repeat it a few times. It doesn't help when your name isn't spelled phonetically either. I have gotten phonetic spellings, completely wrong spellings, and, one time, "Hat Girl."
4. You get asked if you have a nickname that you can be called.
When you say no: the professor sighs and writes the phonetic pronunciation on the roll, bracing himself for trying to get your birth name pronounced correctly.
When you say yes: the professor is excited and writes your nickname on the roll, glad to not worry about how to pronounce your legal name.
5. Your friends try to find you on Facebook, but can't because they don't know how to spell your name.
It's ok! I'll just find you. You'll know it's me because of my face.
6. People ask you if your middle name is as unique as your first name.
In my case, yes, it is (my middle name was actually mispronounced at my high school graduation, but my first name was pronounced correctly). For other people, maybe not. Either way, that's kind of a rude question. Please don't ask that.
7. You have never, and probably will not ever, find a keychain, magnet, or any novelty item that has your name on it.
Whenever you came across the stands, you always hoped there'd be the off-chance that maybe your name would be in there. The disappointment felt when your name wasn't found was painful.
8. If you have a nickname, you use it everywhere.
When the professor struggles on my name, I just tell them to call me by my nickname. I use my nickname when introducing myself to people, ordering food, and on my social media.
9. You have considered changing your name to something easier to spell and pronounce on more than one occasion.
It'd be for everyone's benefit! Professors won't have to ask me for my name pronunciation, everyone won't have to struggle figuring out how to spell my name, and it'll be good for my sanity knowing I won't have to spell and pronounce my name for people a thousand times.
10. But, deep down, you kind of like having a unique name.
I have only met one other person ever who had the same name as me (even though her name was spelled differently than mine). It's kind of a cool feeling being the only person with your name, despite the frustrations and annoyances that come along with it.
