In my twenty one trips around the sun and twenty New Year's Eve celebrations thus far, I have witnessed the good, the bad, and the straight up ugly when it comes to New Year's Eve kisses. Now, I have no idea who came up with this tradition. However, I highly doubt they could have predicted the outcome to be one of party attendees grabbing the nearest fellow party member and drunkenly making out with them when the clock strikes midnight, only to forget the whole thing the next morning.

When we were young, New Year's Eve sleepover parties with our friends included activities such as watching the Disney Channel New Year's countdown featuring the cast of High School Musical and popping bottles of apple cider if we managed to stay up until midnight (shoutout to Zac Efron). As we grew older and ventured out to house parties, smuggling liquor bottles from in hand, we began to realize that we would gladly trade in missing the midnight fireworks in order to avoid the dreaded awkward New Year's Eve kiss. 

Reminiscing on this holiday tradition set me on track for a mission to uncover stories of awkward encounters of New Year's past and get a few laughs in the process. 

"I was at a bar back home and noticed a cute boy across the room. There was about thirty minutes left until midnight and since I hadn't found my New Year's kiss yet and I was pretty drunk, I thought I'd go talk to him. I got about half way there when I realized it was my cousin. I was not about to pull a Karen from Mean Girls so I fled the scene to the bathroom, horrified." -Laura, Sophomore

“I was a sophomore in high school and she didn’t even see it coming. To make it worse, I had a girlfriend at the time and it just so happened to be her best friend. My girlfriend was at another party and she heard about it no less than a minute later. She ended up burning all of my stuff in a fire later that year and sent me a video of it. Gotta love high school.” -Tyler, Senior

"I was walking home early from the bar with one of my friends when the clock struck midnight. We ended up kissing two random guys on the street who were heading toward the bar. I don't know how, but they found us on Facebook the next day. All I have to say is that beer goggles are definitely a thing." -Kate, Senior

"In high school, I had the biggest crush on this girl and I was so excited when she turned out to be my New Year's Eve kiss.  The downside: She threw up all over me right after." - Brandon, Sophomore

Whether you're currently walking down the trail of past remorse or simply happy you are not one of the aforementioned, here's to hoping 2015 is the best year yet. Happy New Year's to all and to all a good night! Oh, and best of luck to you and your lucky New Year's Eve kiss this year, whomever it might be.