Scared to go to college? In Fan Girl, Cath experiences many hardships along the way, in college. Cath is very much an introvert and had a small selection of friends in high school. But now college has come around. The four years of life that everyone remembers as memorable and legendary. Cath has always had her sister Wren by her side. But college changes that strong bond the girls had once had. Wren goes and gets drunk and wasted at every party while Cath stays huddled in her dorm typing up her fanfiction. Her fanfiction is probably the most important thing in her life, and in the book it symbolizes her happiness and what her personality is really like and is expressed through the life of a fictional character. Cath’s timid personality causes her to experience many more hardships and obstacles in college compared to more outgoing people. Cath goes through college being a bystander and not an active participant.
Ever had trouble making friends with people who are nothing like you? An example of Cath’s timidity is when she meets Reagan, her roommate, and Levi, Reagan’s boyfriend/sex-friend. She is disappointed that she got really outgoing roommates and feels excluded. She’s too aloof to go and befriend them. Her roommates assume that she doesn’t like them. They stay away from her which creates miscommunication and pushes them farther apart from being friends. If Cath was extroverted or at least more open to having more friends like her sister, then becoming Reagan and Levi’s friend would have been a whole lot easier. They spent three months avoiding each other, until Reagan just started making her talk and Cath then grew to open up to Reagan. Even though they eventually grow to become friends, the road was made more difficult by Cath being very introverted. If Cath was less aloof and less shy she would have been able to make friends more easily.
Ever gotten a bad grade? Cath had turned in a bit of her fanfiction which had thousands of hits online. In class her teacher, Ms. Piper, accuses Cath of plagiarizing her writing. Instead of explaining herself she just obediently accepts this false fact and experiences pain alone. She is too shy to go ask anyone for help. Ms.Piper had read the original story and she now scolded Cath for copying, telling her that her writing and fanfiction wasn’t original even though, they were her words, and her rewriting of the story. If Cath was more open and outgoing she would have asked Ms.Piper for more feedback and help on how to improve her grade and how to create her fanfiction into something more original for the rubric of the assignment. The simple problem between Ms.Piper and Cath is miscommunication, and mainly because Cath is too shy to speak her mind. It’s likely that Ms. Piper would have accepted Cath’s compromise on editing her fanfiction because she knows that Cath is an amazing writer, she’s a freshman in a junior level writing class. If Cath had spoken up, she could have changed her grade and regained confidence about her writing.
In conclusion, Cath would have achieved more socially and academically if she would have opened up and been less of a bystander in the world. She also doesn’t trust people and therefore doesn’t open up to let people be friends with her. Life and college would be easier for Cath if she wasn’t shy. Towards the end of the story however Cath grows more used to her surroundings and new friends and finally adapts to college life. Although she adjusts to college life she doesn’t do things that are out of character such as going to frat parties. Her college journey represents baby steps towards growing into an adult.
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