Why We Feel Awkward: Cringeworthy in February 2018 and Discussed Why Awkwardness Should Be Cherished and

(Story). Needless to say, I was an eccentric kid in school, but it wasn’t all bad.
The cool kids in

middle school gave me a lot of sweet nicknames; like weird, awkward, and my favorite: “who?” I
know it sounds insulting, but the truth is that those were compliments the whole time.
Awkwardness is defined to be a feeling of embarrassment or uncomfortability. Unfortunately,
many people go through these occasions but they miss the opportunities that come with these
special feelings. According to Professor Amy Morin from the University of Northwestern there
are a lot of upsides to being socially awkward. Melissa Dahl, published a book titled
Cringeworthy in February 2018 and discussed why awkwardness should be cherished and
celebrated. Today, I will be your personal guide on how awkwardness is not bad, first we’ll take
cover…behind the answer to why we feel awkward in the first place, then I’ll *take a deep
swallow* explain the benefits of people who are consistently different, and lastly I’ll TELL MY
MOM and discuss how to embrace awkwardness.
1. Why We Feel awkward

There are a lot of explanations to why people feel sad, happy, bitter (they made me go
fourth/placement, Ughhh I have to follow ___? Improv, inside joke is the basic premise here.
Think of Roxan adding jokes to Jacqueline’s ads in the final round ). However there are not a lot
of explanations for why people feel awkward. Why did we evolve to feel uncomfortable in social
situations? I have never met anyone who wants to be put in an awkward position, except for the
awkward senate hearing of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who awkwardly had to explain his idea of
consent. Yeah, I like beer too says the people in the AA meeting. So is it really a bad thing to be
awkward, well clearly not, cuz I’m F*cking awesome (mirror gesture). However, when I try to use
my pick-up lines (your face my love, looks like a face that I would love) why does that make you
feel uneasy and unflattered (subtly pull out card that says “my number”). Melissa Dahl from
The Daily Beast in 2018 wrote that awkwardness is a natural emotion, and similar to an
extension of empathy. It is a signal that we are not successfully conforming to social norms and
that indication will help us develop stronger social character traits and recognize correct social
cues. Basically, awkwardness is an emotion that supports correct behavior, but not only is it a
guide for acting normal. Kinda like when you lean against the wall before class starts. We get it,
you’re cool for being 15 minutes early to class but have issues being comfortable without
something to lean on. Dahl notes in her book that rather than watching someone embarrass
themself and give a speech about (name competitor’s speech) while thinking “glad that’s not
me,” we should embrace this natural feeling as a sense of unity because we all make mistakes,
my brother makes mistakes, if i had friends, they’d make mistakes, and my parents made a
mistake (laugh at own joke, abruptly stop in terrible realization, laugh again). Point is, we are all
prone to cringeworthy moments, it’s something we all have common ground in. Like feet.
Everybody has feet. If you ask me about the most recent awkward moment I’ve had, I’d have to
say it was giving this speech and if I asked you what your most recent awkward moment was, it
would probably be the time you saw a kid drop his lightsaber in public (foreshadow).
2. Awkward Personality Traits

*Trips* Now, while we all share awkward instances, there are those select lucky few who are far
more prone to awkwardness. According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and horoscopes,
people have a predisposed view of the world because of their personalities. I went into my first
tournament not knowing where speeches were taking place. It was weird, I opened a random
door and saw what I thought was a satanic, godless and barbaric blood ritual was really just an
LD round. Once I found my speech room I was pleasantly surprised to meet kind people who
were not godless demons and instead told me to “break a leg.” I think it worked, because I didn't
break into anything. Clean record for life babyyy, Moral of the story is that we all have a default
personality, some people are just weird and that’s a good thing. Inc, in 2017, summarized a
couple points on why awkward people have an advantage. In the article, Dr. Ty Tashiro, from
the University of Maryland, noted that most people see things differently in comparison to
awkward-prone people. Apparently, people like me tend to have a high focus of interest that
they can nerd out on, like math, biology, and Star Wars..nerds…(lightsaber drops) *gasp* my
lightsaber! Um… I need it to protect my virginity. I know I’m a deviation from the norm, but I
can’t help it. Dr. Tashiro explained that being awkward may be in your genes. He estimated that
it is about 50 percent inheritable in boys and 38 percent inheritable in girls. So it isn't something
you're likely to change overnight, but TIME magazine in 2017 noted that many awkward people
use the same tools to decode social situations as they do to solve scientific equations correctly.
Dr. Tashiro created a standard 50-item test to measure awkwardness, the average person hits
16, but there is a gap between humanities majors and computer science majors. Because of my
lack of social skills, I’m a lot more subtle and clever with my pick-up lines because I learned
from experience that it’s weird to approach strangers. Before I talk to the cute girl in class, or in
a round, I try to figure out her name using the simplest method ever, on 3, can everyone shout
their name? I didn’t catch her name, it was too loud. The article goes on to elaborate that social
deviants find more gratification in belonging and conversing. Understandingly, accomplishments
feel far more satisfying when you put effort into it.
Embracing It
Being different doesn't necessarily mean you stay different. Those people like me and some of
you have found ways to overcome innate challenges. In 2017, psychology today wrote that we
should embrace our awkwardness. So don’t be ashamed to tell people you’re strange or
different, it’s okay to say “I am a communications major” and people going ew. The first step to
embracing your awkwardness is explained by Communications professor (ew) Svendd
Brinkman from Aalborg University that we should own our actions. Whenever we feel bad or
embarrassed, we should own it not forget it. During awkward moments, we feel wounded and
tied down, but that makes us unable to stand up for our action or make a proper response. The
second step is practice memento mori, the fancy way or saying “YOLO.” Or if 2011 feels “too
longgg ago too” then sorry that your generation is so cool and up to date. I don’t get what you
get, do you get that? I was born in an era where we’re close but we’ll see never live long
enough to get the benefits of space travel by the time it progresses enough to be available to
the public. Yeah, I think about that at the coffee machine. That’s why I’m 5 minutes late Janice
from HR. Awkward moments can affect our lives. Kinda. If we think about it. Like if we keep
remembering that time we forgot to say thanks to the bus driver, or that moment when you
approach a girl or guy and say “you’re as cute as my parent” or whenever we remember that
time you told you were in forensics and for once they thought you were cool! The last step to
embracing your awkwardness is to have some confidence. Embrace the encounter and focus
on the outcome, learn from your mistakes and take note of them, but don’t ever feel defeated
when a judge writes the number 6 on your ballot and circles that. I’m awkward, I make other
people feel awkward, and I’m proud.
Conclusion
Awkwardness is at its core is a human trait. It is no different than being happy, sad, or aroused.
It’s innate to humans to feel that way in social encounters. I explained how it is a natural trait,
the benefits of being prone to awkwardness, and how to embrace it. I’ll leave you with this. Do
or don’t. If yes, do. If no, don’t. If you do a don’t. don’t and if you do a yes, yes. Don’t Yes a don’t
Don’t yes a don’t….

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(Story). Needless to say, I was an eccentric kid in school, but it wasn’t all bad.

The cool kids in

1. Why We Feel awkward

2. Awkward Personality Traits

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