The third week of every semester marks the beginning of what I like to call, the “Awkward Middle.” Let me explain.

Three weeks ago, you came back to Binghamton University from a month-long break, probably excited to see all your friends again, but also excited to meet some new people.

You were determined to start off on the right foot. You went to all of your classes on time, and sometimes early, fist pumped at every single “Jersey Shore” theme party and maybe even stuck to your planned workout regimen. Life was good.

Let’s fast-forward some 21 days and see how much has changed. The workload is beginning to pile up, you find yourself stuck in the library later than you expected. The parties and bars are starting to calm down and they aren’t as full as they were earlier in the semester. It seems like school is beginning to lose its luster.

As you settle in for the long semester, meeting new people becomes harder. With the GIMs well done and gone, randomly showing up at a club meeting becomes awkward; cliques are established early and many people are not always willing to accommodate changes to their group of friends.

The first couple of weeks of school are thus crucial for several reasons: it sets the mood for the rest of the semester and plants the seed for friendships. For example, there are a couple of people on my floor whom I never bothered meeting until now, and I have found that it is a lot harder to approach them.

Our conversations are something along the lines of, “Hey, so you live here …” and “Yeah, I have been for the past five months.”

Regardless of whether or not we are willing to admit it, there is a certain window of opportunity (again, about three weeks) to meet as many people as you can without pressure. After that, you have to wait until the following semester.

At the same time, you might find yourself losing the motivation to stick to all of your set goals and you may want to revert back to your old habits. New Year’s resolutions are easy to follow right after the first of January, but a month and a half is enough to wash away any remaining intentions of change.

It’s the Awkward Middle. The feeling that you once had when you were fresh off vacation is starting to wane, and you are left only with the familiar. Each day becomes a routine, excitement becomes a rarity. Maybe it will go on like this until spring break. But until then, we are all subjected to this massive, mind-numbing blob of awkward.