The years leading up to high school are years filled with promises of branching out and meeting new friends. When we make it to high school though, we’re hit with the reality of mean girls and athletes, all of the stereotypical groups that we didn’t believe actually existed.

High school is full of reputations wishing to stay intact. Year after year, kids build up their reputation in hopes of gaining popularity. They want to get to the highest standing at school so that people will like them. This means only talking to the popular girls at school, befriending the football players or joining too many clubs to count. In the end, keeping up with this act changes people, and not in a good way.

Some kids just want to fit in. Going into high school, teachers and administrators make it seem like it’s all about trying new things and making friends. Finding the right people can be extremely scary and difficult when everyone is already in their own set group. Varsity athletes, theater kids, mean girls, the list goes on. Because these groups are seemingly set in stone, it can be intimidating to try and join in.

On the flip side, students already in these groups can be feeling the same way. Maybe they want to branch out and try out for a new club. But what if their friends will judge them? What if their D1 boyfriend thinks they’re weird? All of the stigma hanging above the heads of people in “cliques” can be scary in a different way.

In the end, high school is just four years of everyone’s lives. The way we choose to live those years is entirely up to us. Whether we want to live the stereotypical popular life or we want to keep to ourselves and focus on our grades, if it’s what makes us happy, it’s what we should do.