Thursday, June 20, 2013
Apparently I'm an Alpha-Female
Those of you who know me or have just kept up with my posts know that I support strong women. Whether it's Wonder Woman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Debbie the serial killer from "The Addams Family" movie, or the mom from the song "Harper Valley PTA" by Jeannie C. Riley, I completely respect women who are able to support themselves, stand up for themselves as well as others, and show a strong sense of character no matter the situation.
I like to fancy myself as a strong woman. I know that I have flaws and don't always do the right thing, but I would like to think that I can take care of myself (and others) in any given circumstance. However, even having this vision of myself as a strong female, I never thought of myself as an Alpha Female...
One day during my senior year of college, I was walking from a class back to my residence hall when I hear someone call my name. Now, I went to a medium-sized university, where I knew about 80% of the student population, so it wasn't unusual for someone to yell at me from across campus. I hear my name again, but this time it is closer. I look around and see a few people that I recognize, but none that are yelling for me. I turn around and continue walking, thinking that this mysterious person was yelling for a different Katelyn, when this young man walks up to me and says, "Hi, Katelyn."
Earlier I mentioned that I knew about 80% of the students on campus. This guy was one of the few that I didn't know. I had never seen him before, I didn't know his name, I couldn't even place him as being a friend of a friend of an acquaintance. But he definitely knew who I was. Shocked that he knew me and I had no idea who he was, I stopped in my tracks and listened to what he had to say.
Guy: How was your Senior Seminar class?
Katelyn: It was fine...How did you know I was just in Senior Seminar?
Guy: I know all about you. I actually just called you over to let you know that I am writing a paper over you for my Freshman Psychology class. I figured that since I'm writing about you, the decent thing to do would be to let you know I'm writing about you.
Katelyn: Umm...what?
Guy: Yeah, I'm writing about how you are an Alpha Female. I see you all over campus, and how people just respond to you. You always have a positive attitude, but you don't take crap from anyone. You really are a take-charge kind of woman, so I'm writing my paper over you.
Katelyn: I'm not sure....I don't....How do you know....Huh...?
Guy: Okay, bye!
And with that, he left. With a smile on his face, he bounced away, never once looking back. And I just stood there stunned for a moment. It took me a while to process what this guy had said: a guy that I had never met knew about me, my schedule, and my personality, and he was going to write a paper about me for a class. Thinking it was a joke, I looked around to see if friends were hiding behind trees laughing because of the amazing prank they pulled on me. I was hoping that they were just trying to give Ashton Kutcher and the creators of Punk'd a run for their money. Unfortunately, there was no one around.
Flipping out a little, I go tell my roommate about what just happened. She agrees that it was a strange encounter, but says that I probably know the guy and don't remember. I nod in agreement hoping that it will put my mind at ease, all the while knowing that I have never met this guy.
A few weeks pass and I don't hear from him. I get so wrapped up in finishing my Thesis and other classwork that I honestly forget about the entire thing. One day, however, this young man is standing in front of me as I walk onto my front porch. (Let me tell you, I felt like this guy was part of a real-life pop-up book and I was kind of terrified.) Once again shocked, I stood there listening to what he had to say; granted, I was thinking of all my escape routes and doing a mental inventory of all the weapons I had with me in case things got bad, but for all he could tell I was just standing there listening to him.
Guy: Hey Katelyn. I just wanted to let you know that I finished my paper about you.
Katelyn: Okay...
Guy: I got an A on it, in case you were wondering. My professor said that you were an interesting case; definitely an Alpha Female. He had to ask me if I embellished on the details of a few of the anecdotal stories of yours that I included because they are so outrageous. But he was more impressed when I told him that no embellishments were needed. That was all you.
Katelyn: ...what stories..?
Guy: Oh it doesn't matter now. But I need to be headed towards my next class. See you around.
Katelyn: ...wait! How do I know you?!
Guy: You don't. Bye!
And once again, this mysterious man was gone. I haven't seen him around campus since.
I'm not sure if he wanted to become one of my outrageous stories, or if he seriously thought I was that interesting, or what was going on with him. But I would absolutely love to read what Guy wrote about me. Also, I'd like to know which stories he used and how he even found out about them; if he thought I was such an interesting case, why didn't he talk to me himself, instead of creepily watching me from around campus?
I can't decide if I'm more flattered that he thought I was an Alpha Female and wanted to write about me, or more creeped out because of the way he chose to go about it. Either way, I feel like this just adds to my arsenal of "Only Katelyn" stories. Who else has someone pop-up out of nowhere to inform them that the other person is writing a character analysis (basically) over them for a college-level Psych class? If there is anyone out there with the same issue, I would love to hear about it.
As always, I can't wait to hear what you have to say!
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