When you first look at someone, what do you think? Or when you first look at yourself, what do you think? What is the other person thinking about you?
First impressions are everything. Sometimes you are remembered by the first thing that you did, and other times for the last thing you did. However, you can improve from the first impression. Say you got yourself drunk last night and could not remember what you did. If everyone else remembers exactly what you did, you must do something incredibly awesome to get rid of it.
Sometimes, first impressions are completely wrong. Take for example, this girl in my hall. At first, I saw her as this person who was highly intimidating. She entered the room, completely late, wearing attire that demanded attention. All I could think was “Here we go, this girl is super late. She’s probably scary.” But, turns out this girl became my best friend, and we’re completely inseparable. First impressions are not always correct.
If you have ever wondered why someone is not my friend, then they are probably supposed to be a friend. If you’ve thought, “Hey this girl is completely in my space and needs to leave.” Then they should probably be outside of your space, and leave.
How important is a first impression? Who is to say that we are supposed to make a great first impression so that we can do something? For a job interview you only have a few minutes to make an impression last.
But when it comes to yourself, you may not notice that you judge people by their first impressions, but you probably do it subconsciously. Walking around Mills, you probably do not even realize that you are already making some sort of judgment based on how you view some person. However, once you get to know someone, the impression they first gave off could be proved wrong. You could be thinking, “Look at her outfit, it is so…” and three weeks later, you can turn out to be friends.
The first impression may stick, but what are commonly remembered are the bad times. The times you remember are the times that someone stepped on your foot and did not apologize, or when you dropped your books and someone walks right over you. Those are the times that you remember.
When you first meet someone make sure to think about the way you may be perceived. Just like you remember a first impression of someone else, they remember the first impression of you. Just think, when you make a stereotype about someone based on how they look, someone else is assuming something equally similar about you.
