As a freshman in college, having just experienced O-Week, the inevitable social networking and self-introduction occur everywhere, every day, and every time. No matter if it is a lecture hall with almost 100 students, or within your own O-Week family, with less than 10 people, the so-called leader who strikes up the conversation asks that you give your name along with a fun fact about you. Your name and a fun fact. Does this imply that the second most important thing to introduce yourself is this fun fact? Is it more important than where you’re from? Or has it evolved into a social tradition for others to remember you by? But who would still remember your fun fact one month later?

My Usual Answer

Depending on what I feel like on that day, I have my own answer bank:

• I am a huge cat person, and I have a cat named Yumi back in Beijing.
• I have visited all the Universal Studios in the world.
• I used to sing Peking Opera for five years.

Personally, I think none of my answers qualify as ‘fun’, compared to those who can speak five languages, know a ton of instruments, or have some extraordinary talent; mine doesn’t seem memorable enough to be the second fact I state after my own name.

I have even googled how to discover my fun fact, and I remember it asked me to emphasize what I like to do in my free time, where I have been, or something important to me, and as you guessed, the three fun facts in my answer bank correspond to these three types of fun fact.

What these Answers actually Mean to Me

Even though the nature of this question is to establish a first impression of yourself in a new environment, or you may say that it is just a social tradition where answering this question or any other random question would make self-introductions more ‘fun’, for me, these answers show a part of me that I want people to see.

First, I love talking about my cat and showing people her cutest pictures. I genuinely love her to the point that I collect her fur after brushing her, and I have a whole collection of about 20 of her whiskers because I believe cat whiskers represent good luck. But circling back to answering in this particular way, ‘a huge cat person’ shows that I love cats and it could potentially be a common characteristic of me and others, ‘my cat named Yumi’ shows that I have a pet cat, and ‘back in Beijing’ shows my identity as an international student. There is nothing fancy about this answer that makes anyone go ‘wow’, but it is simple and memorable for those who have similar interests. On the other hand, if I say, ‘I have a collection of cat whiskers’, it’s predictable that many people would probably be confused, and those who have the time would take a few more seconds to ask, while others would tag me with something like ‘weird cat girl’.

Second, the fun fact about Universal Studios was actually discovered by accident, when a casual conversation was brought up discussing which one is better, and I found out this coincidence that I had never noticed. I only like to say this occasionally as my fun fact, just because it is not what I am incredibly proud of or care about; it is more of a ‘fun’ fact about me that is less common. And… the more unique the better, right?

Last, being involved with Peking Opera in my childhood was something that I will always be proud of. On one hand, the cultural heritage is important to me as an international student, representing my country, but also representing my city, Beijing. And on the other hand, it is an interest that I had, which isn’t just something any person would be able to do, like being able to play piano (not saying that playing piano isn’t impressive, it is just way too common for any Asian child to be forced to take piano lessons). Thus, for me, it qualifies as at least an ‘interesting’ fact that makes me different and special.

What is a Good Answer to this Question?

To be honest, what do you, as a listener, want to hear as an answer? Something that blows your mind and makes you think highly of someone? But how many people actually have that fun fact to say to blow everyone’s mind? The most common answer I hear is I play some kind of instrument or sport, or something about their pets or siblings, it becomes something that is even less memorable than your name, rendering this question completely useless. But what is a fun fact that I think is a good answer? I don’t have anything that immediately comes to mind. Neverthelss, I feel like the reason I don’t remember any particular answers is because this social norm has became a habit that you are used to, it became a standard procedure that you just have to finish rather than enjoy, so I block this particular information because I am too aware of the fact that this information would be gone from the back of my mind the second day.

Therefore, it seems that a good answer for me only needs to qualify for the criteria that I don’t say anything embarrassing; nothing needs to be fancy or memorable, rather just something that blends into the crowd and doesn’t make a scene.

So, what is your most used answer for this question?

Do you think it’s a good answer?