I'm pretty bad at making friends. I don't really know what my face looks like when I'm talking to someone, but I'm fairly sure it's always doing something awkwardly scrunchy. Perhaps I can attribute this to growing up in a nerdy community where I was surrounded by arguably not the most socially adept people in the world. Not to say my high school friends aren't cool now — I mean they totally are — but man, we had some cringe-worthy moments.

So at the beginning of my first semester at Rice, I was rather confused because everyone was so... friendly. Especially the guys. Why were they making such intense eye contact? Why did they keep touching my arm? Why were they even talking to me?! And then the absolutely unthinkable would inevitably enter my mind: Is he flirting?

It's not really a big deal when you're just out to make friends, but when you're actually interested in a particular someone, things start to get a little more complicated.

The line between friend and more-than-friend has always been a blurry one, especially at this age. If that line isn't defined in the beginning stages, between two single individuals, someone's probably going to get confused; and even when it is defined, trust me, there's still room for confusion. You might talk for hours and hours with one friend, alone in a dorm room, without giving it a second thought, but when the two of you separate to go to bed, the other person might lie awake for two more hours trying to figure out what that 'meant.' Or, you might spend a whole week thinking you're playing a nice, solid game of flirtation involving witty repartee via text message interspersed with the occasional one-on-one study sesh in the library, but then you find out that weekend that in fact, the object of your desire already has his/her eye on someone else.

There's almost no real way to tell if someone's into you.

But honestly, what all that disorientation and blurriness can do is make sure you actually get to know people and focus on that rather than the yes/no answer to "Wait, is he interested in me or what?" I think it's easy to objectify people upon first impression, especially when it comes to the preferred sex.

In college, a lot can happen and a lot can change over the course of a week, a month, an entire semester. A mere matter of circumstances can bring two people together, or apart.

Thankfully, a year and a half of college has helped me gain some chill. I'm considerably less of a freak-out than I was when I first started at Rice, and much of that has to do with getting used to actual social interaction. Toward the end of first semester, I told a good friend of mine, if I ever get too crazy and overanalytical, please grab me by the shoulders, give me a good shake, look me in the eye, and say, "Julianne. PTFD. Just PTFD."

PTFD: Pipe. the F**k. Down.

Instead of worrying, on top of everything else going on in college, about some cutie who's sending — in your eyes — mixed signals, just tell yourself, hey, with time comes clarity.

So next semester, just remember to PTFD and relax. Just chill.

(By the way, if I'm totally wrong and there is in fact a way to figure out if someone's into you sooner rather than later, please enlighten me — I'd love to know.)