College and University Blog

We’ve all been humiliated by our own actions at one point or another, and when you go away to college— where you don’t always have the privacy you’re used to and you’re constantly meeting new people—even minor blunders can seem mortifying.

Your embarrassing moments may become legendary around campus, causing snickers whenever you walk into a room, but have no fear. Humiliating things happen to the best of us, and at some point they’ll make great icebreakers. Once you start telling the story that begins with “One time I…” you know you’re on the road to recovery.

Here are 11 embarrassing moments you’ll hopefully never experience during your college years:

1. You walk in on someone in the bathroom. Whether you share a bathroom with your roommate or the entire floor, walking in on someone while they’re sitting on the toilet or singing show tunes in the shower isn’t a pleasant experience.

2. Someone walks in on you in the bathroom. It’s even worse if someone walks in on you before you’ve flushed the toilet. Especially if the room stinks and you haven’t sprayed any Lysol yet. Always, always lock the door.

3. The toilet clogged or overflowed while you were in the bathroom. Accidents happen, and not all bathrooms have plungers. If you clog the toilet or cause it to overflow and attempt to sneak out without being seen, someone is going to know that you were the culprit—especially if you only share the bathroom with one other person. And of course they’ll point it out to you, shaking their head in disgust.

4. You catch your roommate naked. Sharing a dorm room with someone you barely know can be bad enough, and walking in on them in the buff will only add to the awkwardness.

5. Worse yet, you catch your roommate naked with a … companion. Coming home from class early only to find your roomie and a “special friend” having … fun … will definitely make your face turn red.

6. Your roommate catches you naked. With or without a companion. And it doesn’t even matter if you’re alone or with someone, your face will be even redder when someone walks in on you without any clothes.

7. Your friends do stuff to you when you’re drunk and take pictures for proof. Even if you’re not a party animal, most college students have a few drinks every now and then, and it can be easy to underestimate just how many you’ve had. If you have a few too many and fall asleep, your friends might find it funny to give you obscene tattoos and/or a moustache with a black Sharpie. And take plenty of photos to blast all over the Internet, of course.

8. You throw up on yourself. Drinking may also lead to vomiting. Puking on yourself isn’t fun either, especially if you aren’t home and can’t change your clothes right away.

9. You wave and yell “hi!” to someone who wasn’t the person you thought they were. Walking across a crowded campus, you see that hot guy or girl from your history class. As soon as you yell “Hey, you!” and start to wave like a moron, you realize it’s not the person you thought it was.

10. Your parents show up to surprise you, only to find out that you {fill in the blank.} If you live far from home, your parents will most likely let you know before they make plans to come visit. However, some folks like to pull the old “Surprise!” trick every now and then. If they knock on your door while any of the embarrassing things listed above—or something even worse—are happening … shudder.

11. While walking to the front of the class to give a presentation, you trip and fall. College life does involve more than dorm life and parties. Let’s not forget about those things called classes! It’s a huge deal any time you have to give an important speech or presentation in front of your professor, so falling flat on your face before taking your spot at the podium isn’t a wise idea. Ladies, skip the heels on presentation day.

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Posted on 16 Nov

Melissa Rhone+

Melissa Rhone earned her Bachelor of Music in Education from the University of Tampa. She resides in the Tampa Bay area and enjoys writing about college, pop culture, and epilepsy awareness.