Before you get the wrong idea, I’m not out to kill anyone. 

It’s more of a game than a list. Remember when you got onto campus for the first time and were hit with a never ending stream of names, hometowns and majors? I was pretty damn sure I had met half the campus by the time October rolled around. 

While lingering in the Saybrook common room, I found my way over to the Class of 2027 poster hanging on the wall. Mugshot-style, the faces of my peers stared back at me. We all live in the same building and I seem to see a fellow Saybrugian every time I walk across campus, yet half of these faces stirred no recognition. 

What? I began to count. Nine-and-a-half rows down and 13 columns across makes for the Saybrook first year class of 128. When I totaled up the number of people I had had a conversation with, I barely reached half that. 

I pride myself on being a good neighbor and a loyal Saybrugian. This wouldn’t cut it. 

I snapped a picture of the poster with my phone and began an expanded game of person-bingo with the markup tool. In bright red, I’ve X-ed out the faces of all of my friends and new acquaintances. It only counts if we’ve had a conversation and know each other’s names. People I would wave and shout hello to from across the street. The goal is blackout: I win when I’ve met every Saybrook freshman. 

Does this look suspicious and borderline neurotic? Of course. But looks are deceiving, and every person I’ve shown this bingo board to has come around to see its genius. 

1. It’s a great conversation starter. 

Everyone’s pretty settled into their routines of classmates and friends, so getting to meet someone new is a treat. Now, I can commence my pleasantries with a “let me cross you off. ” Followed by the inevitable, “What do you mean, cross off?” Et cetera, et cetera. 

2. I know who I haven’t met yet. 

As I get closer to winning my game, my number of targets shrinks. So by now, I’m familiar with some photos and first names. My friends have begun to aid me on my quest. “Oh you haven’t met [insert name]? Let me introduce you.” 

This has resulted in a growing curiosity about the people I haven’t managed to meet yet. Do you have secret study spots you go to? Do you hang around other colleges more? Now that I think about it, I haven’t met very many athletes. And, there’s a whole 8-person suite that is the exact mirror of mine (on the opposite side of Vandy) which I haven’t met a single person from. Is there a counterpart version of each of my suitemates? 

3. Actually meeting every first-year in Saybrook!

If each residential college is truly a microcosm of Yale, I will have conversed with a host of very different, very interesting people. I will have more people to wave across the street to and commiserate over midterms with! 

I do not expect to be friends with everyone. But I am an extrovert and an optimist and probably pretty stubborn. I believe in “putting yourself out there,” making yourself open to new people who could walk into your life, and maybe being proactive about it.

Let the games commence. And if you’re in Saybrook, and we HAVEN’T met yet, come find me.