College Cliques

Being a teenager is all about being part of a community. I would argue that our entire lives stem from being involved with different groups. We're all in cliques, bromances, friendships and relationships. We as people need other people to validate our human experience (let me not get super liberal arts whacked our on you all). We strive to belong and to be accepted. When we are not, it's devastating and quite possibly the most hurtful thing that can happen to us (in it's most basic form). Well the question then is, which clique reigns supreme?

Coming to college everyone says is your clean slate. Everyone starts off on a level playing field but let's be real, never has that ever been true, nor will it ever be. As long as people are different (so like forever and ever) there will never be definitive equality. No one may have known you when your first stepped foot on campus but your fate socially was determined quickly by who you decided to associate with. People exaggerate when it comes to social suicide but like Awkward. fast talks, it's a real thing. Who you're friends with can make or break you? Think there's too many people to care? Think again, who you're friends with will always matter. High school is a breeding ground for drama because everyone's cliques are so small but on college campuses it's even easier to see the clique boundaries. High School Musical "Stick to the Status Quo" is currently running through my head. But who your friends are matters, not so much to you but to everyone else. Oliviabosschick (literally the funniest Instagram account/trend ever; Raven-Symoné killing 'en softy) said it be "you hang with hos, you a ho by association. Don't get it twisted, the high scho drama is alive and well in college it takes a different form, it's easier to avoid people, but when cliques do clash the consequences can be absolutely devastating. Not even the crazy ass murder spree that was Heathers can describe what college kids are capable of. You just have to choose your friends wisely and know that whether you like it or not people are judging you by the company you keep. These aren't your normal cliques these are your college cliques.

Cliques are known notoriously for putting other people down. They divide us and create this hierarchy that we somehow go along with. Who decides who's in power, who's popular and what does being well-liked actually entail? I guess we'll never know but for the mean time you can know that those who are at the top of the social ladder are only there because everyone puts them there. People are treated like Demi-gods (the Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters trailer though, ready) and placed on a pedestal. Everyone is talking about so and so, what they wore, how funny they are, who they're dating and it's like but these are just normal people. Anyone could become that if we changed what we all valued that is (Barbie and Ken with perfect everything). Until that day - if it ever comes, we're stuck in our cliques so we'd better pick what's right for us. Along the same lines of cliques comes inclusive language. That's using words in a way that seeks to welcome all people regardless of the identities they hold. Remember last Thursday when j want to that inclusive language potluck, it really got me thinking. I'm usually inclusive when I speak, I like to keep things ambiguous and genderless so as to not exclude anyone. The four phrases we focused on wee "that's gay" - "ghetto" - "lame" and "biddie." All derogatory, using gay as a synonym for bad is for sure hurtful because you mean something else. Lame is abilist - like using retarded for stupidity. Biddie entails a whitegirlwasted drunk off her ass easy "conquest" - people can't be "had" like some pride and just because a drinks excessively does not make her sexually promiscuous. Lastly there's ghetto which people didn't really get. It's recently become a slur, you mean to say raggedy, downtrodden or decrepit but ghetto is highly intertwined with the black identity of impoverished inner city life. Making fun of someone's life and culture is never appropriate. Get your life and then get out of here with that nonsense.

Being a teenager is all about being part of something larger than yourself. It takes more than one person to make an impact (scratch that, there have been several people who singlehandedly hanged the world). The more the merrier. When we are together and united our possibilities are endless, limitless and our courage cannot be contained. We are more than just individuals we belong to groups. Who's clique is best (just like the tootsie pop luck test) the world may never know.

My blog post question is ... how would you define your clique? You all know mine, a random grouping of the most influential people anywhere. Somehow we make sure we matter or are at least seen.