'Overcompensating' Gave Me PTSD About My College Experience and I Appreciate That

Issue No. 47: Yes, homo.

I graduated from Texas A&M University in 2002. Technically, I was supposed to graduate in 2001 but like the character of Peter in Overcompensating, I did a victory lap and managed to get a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism.

It was right after 9/11 and the country (and the world for that matter) wasn’t too different than it is now. It was messy. One would argue that it’s worse now.

The job market was dismal. Divisiveness was potent. It was during the dawning of the Internet. The term “social media” was unknown and the concept of a “blog” was starting to take shape. TRL was in full swing. It was the Golden Age of Pop Princesses and Boy Bands; fish eye lenses was all the rage in hip-hop videos; and pop culture was shifting into something different. People were just starting to text, pagers were in existence, and I had the most creative AOL Instant Messenger away messages (BTW: My screenname was NotoriousDNO).

This was all happening while I was in college.

While watching Overcompensating, the…