As cliché as it is to say that our school is separated and labeled into groups, it’s slightly true. People pick apart your appearance to decide if you’re approachable to them or not. You could be labeled just because of the makeup you wear or the clothes you buy. It’s incredibly bothersome to be labeled by someone who hasn’t even had a discussion with you.

How do we stop this? How can we rise above the judging eyes of our peers and prove them wrong?

Maybe we could take a step in the right direction. I wish I could talk to every person on the earth, just to see how they think. Don’t tell me they’re boring, because the human mind is complex and not skin deep. Like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh once said, “Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.”

So before you whisper to your best friend that the person beside you is super weird, maybe have at least one conversation with that poor kid? Just because he doesn’t wear the same clothes as the guys you hang out with, or play the same sports, doesn’t mean that he’s “super weird.” He might open your mind up about things your other buddies can’t.

They probably have been through many different things than you and your group have. We need to stop being naive and oblivious to the different worlds around us and make it one. Different activities expose you to more people, and a simple step out of your comfort zone to check out something new in town lets you see all the different sides to Texas High and Texarkana as a whole.

I catch myself saying, “He’s actually pretty rad” loads of times. Just a simple smile and “thanks” after some random kid picks up my pencil sparks a new conversation. I am slightly notorious for the amount of friend groups I have because, in the end, people are people. One night I went to a movie with a sweet girl from band, the next I went to go to the same movie with two of my close friends from a slightly more preppy category of people. The difference? Nothing. It was hilarious with both, and they had similar remarks about what happened. We don’t have to be separated if we don’t want to be.

It’s extremely hard to watch a bright, quirky girl try to shape herself into the image of a certain group, just because she thinks that’s how she is suppose to be. She starts buying new clothes, wearing different makeup and even tries to change what she thinks. Why would someone as wonderful as her do this? Acceptance. If everyone looked for people’s value and accepted their value as a human being, then maybe we would feel a little more secure in ourselves. We sure would be happier.