Cliques exist, but are much more prevalent in underclassmen than in upperclassman. Denby’s characterization of high school stereotypes is correct: arrogant jock, powerful cheerleader, Star Trek- tastic nerd. All these roles are found in our school, just on a much smaller representation. The underclassmen are far more worried about fitting in and finding their posse. I feel in junior year everyone is much more comfortable in their own skin, and therefore didn’t worry about cliques. It doesn’t matter what a person’s spot on the food chain is (or for the queen bee, her position in the pyramid), because no one really cares about what everyone else thinks. We realize we just want to be ourselves, and people similar to us naturally gravitate towards us; therefore there is no need to push people away through labeling them. There are cliques at our school, but in junior year I feel no one is under a glass ceiling because of their personality; whereas underclassmen are still worried about their high school legacy and feel cliques are a permanent part to finding that “success”.
I liked your post because it’s honest. It’s evident your personality has been shaped by your different sports teams. I was really drawn to the picture of the disabled soccer players, and the snip-it about perseverance. I’ve been dancing since I was very young, like you and your many sports, and similarly I worked hard but never really appreciated how hard my team worked till I was older. There is one instance I clearly remember that changed that, I realized what I did was incredible and that it truly meant a lot to me. At a competition, one of the girls from another studio was disabled; she was born with only one arm. The girl was not the best technically at the competition, but she got up on stage multiple times and danced her heart out. She really inspired me because she didn’t care what people thought, she was going to persevere and dance no matter what. I see her every couple years at competition, and have yet to tell her the inspiration she has been for me. It was really cool that your article brought that moment back into my mind.
“Once I found the strength to be myself, I had no need to act myself.”
Sports have played an important role throughout my entire life. Ever since I was about six years old I have been on a sports team, but not until I was 14, in eighth grade, did I realize its effect on me. I always enjoyed sports and being athletic, but I never understood the real meaning behind being on sports teams.
Eighth grade year my basketball team made it into the elite eight, my soccer team won the CYO Championship and my track team won the CYO Championship. This was a huge deal for me and my school, Holy Name. I never really thought of it as life changing until after I graduated from eighth grade and was asked: “What was the most memorable part of your eight years at Holy Name?” Instantly I thought of my sporting events and the success and fun we had during the seasons. It did not take me long to answer with how important sports were throughout my eight years at Holy Name. I began to realize sports were very important to me, but I did not understand why. I thought back to my sporting events and started to see the significance of sports in my life. Sports are where I met all of my friends, and not just one of them but every single one of my friends did a sport with me. Sports are how I learned to respect my elders and how to be polite to adults. I would not understand the appropriate way to talk to adults if it was not for sports because of the coaches and parents helping us during the season. They were very polite and taught me extremely important lessons and how to be respectful, ever since I was little. Sports also benefitted me by keeping me in shape and making me an athlete; without sports I would most likely be overweight, not as strong, and a bad athlete. They helped me to stay bus. They helped me to stay concentrated so I could also finish my homework. They even helped me to learn like this article explains. Sports taught me to not take crap from other people when it is unnecessary and to stick up for myself and others, especially my teammates.
Sports have been a part of my life and daily routine ever since I was little. I would not be the same person I am today, but I did not realize until after my successful seasons in sports. My eighth grade year, especially my soccer season, taught me to work hard. I knew I was a hard worker, but I never thought it meant anything until my coaches told me how important my work was for the team and how it led the team to victory. My success on the soccer team taught me to keep working hard, be persistent, believe, and stay motivated, because it will lead to success eventually, even if it does not seem like it. If I do not succeeded in soccer it will pay off and help me to be successful in later years. For example, my eighth grade year was a wonderful year for me, but my junior year has been having a hard soccer season. We appeared to be an awful team that was not going to win a game and although we have been struggling, we have definitely progressed. They have also helped improve my leadership skills and ability to deal with frustrating situations. We are the underdogs, but I believe we can and will come out on top. I believe my team believes we can as well, just as long as we keep the faith and hard work for the team. Sports were a major way of forming who I am and how I act in everyday situations; they built me and changed my perspective of life.
Blushing, shaking, and stuttering: symptoms of a shy girl giving a presentation. I have grown aware of such symptoms; I suffer from its condition. Anywhere near a podium and I have a flare up. The stage on the other hand is a completely different story; I find a stage to be home. I can’t open my mouth without tripping over my words, but I can flow across a stage with ease; it’s ironic. Anywhere else I’m a painfully quite, shy girl. People say I’m nice, but I know better; I’m too nice. Personally, I find pushover to be a better explanation of my personality. Those who know me best or perhaps worse, are aware of my condition. Those I dance with are “in” on my affliction.
Where to start, the who, the what, the why? I suppose Ill start with the first of these. Being shy, is a rarity among stage folk, and can be confusing to those who don’t suffer from it. One of my fellow dancers, we will call her Bertha, had been bullying me throughout the year. Being a pushover, I pretended it didn’t bother me; I mean we all knew Bertha was annoying.
It had been a late night the previous day, and was a long day. A double show, dancers hell. Were all irritable (even me, the “nice” one), and taking my role I had brought in snacks for everyone. A wide array of foods crackers, vegetables, cookies, fruit, yogurt and beverages. I told everyone they could have what they wanted, including Bertha, and left. I came back slightly frustrated to find my favorite snakes pulverized; no big deal, just frustrating. I continued on into the dressing room, to find Bertha and her accomplice snaking on my snacks. I continued on with my business.
Bertha opened her mouth, and once again I was the punch line of one of her not so clever jokes. Her accomplice laughed, knowing like always I would do nothing. They were both wrong, I had had enough. I stood up, and screamed at them both. I yelled at Bertha about how she took advantage of me, her not so funny jokes, her insecurity, hording my snacks, and whatever else I had bottled up. I took several other girls down with her. The accomplice, and whoever else walked into the room during my revolution. Too shocked, to respond no one said anything, and I stormed out of the room.
From that point on I was not a laughing matter. Bertha no longer saw me as a pushover, just shy. I think she appreciated that I was shy because I found no need to bring up the matter again. Bertha became known as the only person that has pushed me, the painfully shy girl, off the edge. The girls never realized I saw and remembered everything; that I was just too shy, too weak to stand up for myself.
Bertha is no longer a pain in my side. She has found respect for me since my rampage. She taught me that standing up for myself was important and a necessity. I still suffer from being shy, but no longer from being a pushover. Once I had the strength to stand up for myself, I have been more comfortable with my condition.
Voice
My purpose is yet to define itself, to me. I have no idea what the future holds, some vague details but nothing more. For example, I know I’ll continue in dance in some form. I may be teaching or taking class or choreographing… I don’t know. My voice is just a babble at this point. Words like dance, learn, and relax are often identified, the rest seem to run together. To sum up what my “voice” promotes would be to stay open- minded.
Fashion Roles
Whenever I get dressed, I always have one question in my head: what do I want to be perceived as? Where I am going sets a standard to my fashion. If going to a nice restaurant, I need to play the role of a polite, confident girl that sets a standard for herself and adheres to it. Whereas at dance practice, anything outside of sweats and T-shirts gives the perception I came unprepared for practice. The perception made through ones appearance creates the identity or role of that person.
I have certainly felt constricted by my role in fashion. More often than not, while shopping, I’ll find something I really like, but I don’t buy it because “it’s not me”. By this I mean, the garment would not fit my personality or the role I want to play. Though one would think having these pieces would make a better representation of one’s role, though they do not because all pieces of clothing hold a stereotype. That change in the fashion would make a change in my role also. The most recent run in I’ve had with this issue, was at the dance competition I was at this past weekend. Hair, makeup, shoes and costumes were all created a role of the dancer, or an expectation. Girls with hair in buns are going to have amazing technique and probably go to a “ballet” studio. Girls with little makeup on or with different makeup on in a dance company are generally perceived as being “new” or not “serious” dancers. The role of shoes in a dance changes the perception of a dance completely: heels, bare- foot, shoes, adages, socks? All different, all hold different meanings. Costumes are the most obvious, role setter. They define characters in a dance by their design, but also a dance studio in their quality. As a teenage- girl, and a dancer I am constantly restricted by fashion to house a specific role.
Altering Public Space
Teenagers change public space, whether as a group or as an individual. Regulations are set on teenagers to prevent excessive change of public space. Driving laws are an excellent example: curfews and a limit on the number of people in a car. Society sets a curfew to prevent teenager drivers from integrating with more experienced drivers after ten o’clock. And when someone breaks this rule, it is presumed they are running late because they were doing something illegal or bad. The limit on the number of kids in the car is to prevent the atmosphere of the car becoming unsafe. With these distracting surroundings it is thought the driver’s performance will suffer, endangering others and themselves. These are stereotypes of teenage driving, and what happens when multiple teenagers meet. With the presence of several teenage passengers the car will become rowdy and distracting. Another example of how regulations are put onto teenagers to prevent the change of public space are movie ratings or parental guidance. For “R” rated movies, if one is not 17 it is not permitted for teenagers to enter without parental guidance. In general, the stereotype is that teenagers in groups, without parental supervision, are dangerous to society.
Most Important Idea
The most important idea of the millennium is the need for accessible, non- censored communication. It allows people to more easily make informed decisions. The knowledge of the truth, led to many civil changes because it gave individuals the drive to force change. In government, a dictatorship is only successful when it’s ruled are ignorant to the outside world. In this idea, censorship is the manipulation of freedom of speech. With the availability of non- censored communication a change in it, whether phone taping, lack of net neutrality, or a SOPA-esque bill, is considered a major issue. Recently, Pakistan has been introduced to this fear.
(Source: pleatedjeans, via positivityyy)
(via anotherwaytodance)
