It’s my second week of college. Several students from the first week of Dramatic Literature are gone and several new ones have enrolled in their place. Unlike high school, the professor doesn’t even bother to acknowledge the newcomers, which saves a lot of time in awkward introductions and pitiful icebreaker questions.
One of these new kids sits to my right, scribbling away at her notebook. As I glance up from my notes, I get the strangest feeling that I've met this person before. It’s like we’d gone to camp or preschool together, except I’ve never been to either of those places (identifying colors and sharing are still hard for me).
I go through every social circle and team I’ve ever been a part of -- jazz bands, after-school dance, improv classes, science Olympiad (as you can tell, I was not the star quarterback in high school). But every time I try to identify this girl, I come up dry. It's driving me crazy.
At the break, I lean over and introduce myself. “Did you ever live in Illinois or spend a summer in St. Louis or something?” Nope. Not once. And I’d never been to Southern California or New York, where she spent most of her time. So weird, I thought to myself.
After class, I walked out with my buddy Henry and described my strange déjà vu experience. Henry laughed, “Well yeah. Of course you’ve seen her before. She’s been in like five hit movies and had her own TV show.”
What? You mean all my memories of her were from the silver screen? Yep. And with that I basically confirmed all my childhood friends were fictional Disney Channel characters.
To all the freshman waiting to meet Karlie Kloss at NYU: going to school with celebrities is not as mind blowing as you would think it would be. You won’t meet a pop star during Welcome Week and become a part of his squad for the next four years. A supermodel is probably not going to be your roommate, or even live in a dorm for that matter. Forget your dreams of being successful because you have famous friends. Because using other people for your own personal gain is totally the same thing as friendship.
Now, I’ll admit I know nothing about what it’s like to be famous. But I do know the importance of privacy and being respected as a person with ideas. Actually, that’s probably why it’s so rare to see Dakota Fanning or Jack Quaid hanging out in the Palladium Dining Hall. Going to college should be one of the most exciting experiences of our lives. But when you’re a Sprouse twin and every other moment is spent with some freshman asking for a selfie, that experience is tainted.
Maybe I’m just talking out of my ass, but I think there’s an important lesson to be learned here. Everyone deserves to be welcomed into a community, not hounded for recognition. Everyone deserves respect, not fanatic ignorance. That should be true whether she’s a princess from Greece or the kid who eats dinner alone in his room across the hall.
And maybe there's something more meaningful in introducing yourself to the new kid than asking for their autograph. Maybe you can be the first person to make them feel genuinely welcome. Parents and paparazzi can wait outside the gates. Friendship is famous here.
