I have social anxiety.

I talk to people and suddenly my mind races as incessant questions pop up. How often had I said “um”? Is my face normal right now? Why can’t I feel my arms? Am I breathing? On and on and on. This process is crippling and often results in an inability to effectively communicate with those around me.

So I came up with an idea.

Humans of New York is a blog run by Brandon Stanton who wanders the streets of New York with his camera. At first, he wanted to capture the faces of people he’d pass every day in hopes of cataloguing the city’s inhabitants on a map. Along the way, he began collecting quotes and stories from his models. By pairing faces with words, Brandon highlighted the personalities of those he photographed and showed readers ways in which they could relate to complete strangers. He was able to creatively connect citizens not only in New York, but also around the world.

To challenge my own social inhibitions and continue in the spirit of Humans of New York, I give you:

Humans of UA.

Patrick Beauchamp, a microbiology freshman, who spent five years in the Air Force and believes college is “opening [his] eyes up to how much [he] doesn’t know.”

“I kinda like the idea of going to a big college but it’s opening my eyes to how much I don’t know.”

“There’s a lot of options, degree programs here. My cousin’s here, he’s doing the neuroscience and cognitive science—which is I guess like a unique major here—and I’m kinda interested in that.”

“Travel, I would say, is probably my biggest thing. I actually, I just got out of the Air Force. I was in for five years and was overseas for most of the time. So that’s basically where I discovered how much I like to travel, meet new people, try new experiences, stuff like that”

“Hold on—I gotta make sure my mustache is nice and proper.”

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