Reid

It might sound lame, but having another guy in my class named "Reid" was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Throughout my entire grade school life, I was the only one with the name "Reid" in my class of 450 students. At Colgate, I was the only "Reid" in a class of 700. All this time, I've been living in a world where I felt different in the way that only people named "Shaniqua" or "Apple" or "Bronx Mowgli" would understand. My name was so rare that I started thinking that I would never meet another "Reid." Then I took ENG200. By some random cosmic event, Reid Nakagawa was forced to take the class as a prereq for pharmacy school, and my world changed. Suddenly, I couldn't take for granted that, when the professor called out, "Reid," she was referring to me. The first time I called out, "Reid," to get Reid N's attention, I had this weird feeling that I'm sure only crazy people who talk to themselves, feel. When Jill gave us the research presentation grading sheets, I got confused--I thought she had me presenting on Friday and Monday. Every time I went online to check what discussion board prompts I didn't answer, I had to look closely to see that I was looking at "Reid Kiyabu's" posts, instead of "Reid Nakagawa's" posts. Even as the weeks passed, I never fully got used to sharing my name with someone else. You know how teachers often remark that, "there are three so-and-so's in this class?" I was shocked when Jill said that there were 2 Reids in our class. It was almost as if I was no longer special! The good thing about the situation was that Reid N was one less person whose name I would have to remember. Also, I'm glad he wasn't dumb, because that would cast some disgrace on the name "Reid."

[A side note for Reid Nakagawa, should he read this: I'm sorry if I embarrassed you or caused you any psychological harm by posting this. You really are a good representative of the name.]