Either You're In or You're Out ( second English paper..very rough)

Normally when you think about high school lunch the first thing that pops into your head is Pizza Fridays. At least that’s what pops into mine. Many teens and preteens today are faced with more issues than just what is on the menu for lunch at school. High school can be a vicious place, especially when you are a girl! As a child your parents normally teach you that it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside people will still love you because of who you are on the inside. It seems like that rule flies right out the window once you turn fifteen. The halls of school turn into a never ending battle of drama and adversity. Either you’re in or you’re out; you are either a somebody or a nobody. As harsh as that sounds, it’s the truth. High school clicks are one of the worst problems most female teens and preteens will ever face in their younger years.

I can remember as a child in middle school I would watch my best friend’s sister and think I want to be like her when I’m that age. If I had only known what that meant at the age of eleven I surely would have never thought that. My best friend had a sister who was a cheerleader, beautiful and always had a new boyfriend every time I saw her. I thought she was just wonderful and “popular.” By the time she graduated I was a freshman in high school and my wish had come true. I was a cheerleader, I was on the homecoming court, I had a boyfriend, and I made good grades. I could not even fathom how life could get much better, nor did I care how everyone else felt who was not in my shoes. Little did I know reality was about to hit my smack dab in the face. My girlfriends and I were sitting at the “popular” table eating lunch on Pizza Friday when a girl from my class walked by. As she did one of my friends made comments about her that was uncalled for and the girl began to cry. It was at that moment that I realized I wasn’t really all that cool or popular. It did not matter what table I sat at or what social standing I had reach, but who my friends had become. Even though those harsh words did not come out of my mouth they reflected me just as much as they reflected my friend. Suddenly, I didn’t feel popular anymore I felt like a loser.

My freshman year of high school ended and we moved to a new town. I decided I would branch out and give public school a try. On the first day of school I pranced right in wearing a polo shirt and carrying a Vera Bradley bag, which was the proper attire for a young girl at a private school. I quickly found myself on the other end of the popularity totem pole. I had gone from Miss Popular to Miss New Girl virtually overnight. People at my school began to make fun of me and call me names because of the way I dressed and where I had gone to school. My friends from my private school shunned me and acted as if going to public school had become some kind of sin or had caught a disease by going to school there. I guess in these situations you find out who your true friends are and I had none. I had fooled myself into thinking that these girls actually cared me when in reality all they cared about was if I had newest of anything that came out like they did. The only people who would talk to me at my new school reminded me so much of the girl that my ex friends had made fun of the year before.

The months went by and summer turned into fall. By this time I was totally adjusted to my new school. People had finally accepted that I different from them and I personally became humbled by the experience. I thought being popular was everything as a young girl, but my whole perception of those types of girls and what made them popular was totally distorted. I began to become my own person and not worry so much about what other people thought. I hung out with all different types of people and eventually realized the real meaning of being popular. It wasn’t about how I dressed, who I dated, or what certain lunch table I sat at. It was about being me and speaking to everyone, getting to know each individual person in a special way. When I graduated last year I knew all three hundred and sixty three people in my graduating class, I was nominated as much talent in the senior class, I was in every club you could think of, and not once did I ever sit with the “popular” crowd.

Many girls are affected by clicks yearly. It’s so engraved in their brains that they must look a certain way and act a special way to be popular. Although, when it comes right down to it nobody cares what lunch table you sat in high school or who your boyfriend was. In the real world people judge you by who you are! Going to public school was the best decision I ever made, I just wish young girls could get the real perspective on high school clicks like I did. Their lives could be so much easier and so much more enjoyable, you just have to hang in there.