Why You Truly Never Leave High School
Directions: Based on our discussion of what it means to have an idea and the “notice and focus” reading strategy, your next writing assignment is to write about an original idea you have after reading an article from New York Magazine, entitled “Why You Truly Never Leave High School.”
For homework, as you read the article, apply the “notice and focus” strategy that we learned in class today. You can take notes in the margins—this will help you arrive at an idea that you will write about on our class blog.
You can write about anything that interests or strikes you based on what you read. Keep your post centered around one main idea, insight, or observation you came to while doing the notice & focus strategy. As you write, make sure you refer back to specific details from the article to help you develop ideas and connections with more depth.
Note: This assignment asks you to write about an original idea you have. Please do not repeat other classmates’ ideas. This means that you need to read previous blog entries before submitting yours for everyone to see.
You can write about anything that interests or strikes you based on what you read. Keep your post centered around one main idea, insight, or observation you came to while doing the notice & focus strategy. As you write, make sure you refer back to specific details from the article to help you develop ideas and connections with more depth.
Note: This assignment asks you to write about an original idea you have. Please do not repeat other classmates’ ideas. This means that you need to read previous blog entries before submitting yours for everyone to see.
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ReplyDeleteHello
ReplyDeleteHigh School: Our Own Parallel Universe
ReplyDeleteAs high school students, we seem to live outside of the real world in a sense. High school is an environment that seems to force teens, usually unbeknownst to them, into a warped sense of reality and intensifies all of the events that they may experience. It is very easy for life to feel finite in high school, and that every little thing matters, both academically and socially. But the truth is, once you exit the stage at graduation, high school has ended and entering the real world becomes a reality instead of something far off in the distance. So how is it possible that the identities we form as teens carry through so strongly into the future? One of the most vulnerable times in a person’s life is the time they are in high school. There are so many different things going on in life during these few years, and yet the frenzy that is the life of a high school student seems to foreshadow the values and identities of the person they become.
Forming an identity inside this small world we live in as high school students tends to be one of the most difficult things that we will ever have to do. Jennifer Senior states “Though adolescents may want nothing more than to be able to define themselves, they discover that high school is one of the hardest places to do it” (Senior 6). This idea seems to hold true for nearly every high school student. Everyone wants to figure out their own way to fit in, but there is not really a “right way” to do this so to speak. In high school, what is “cool” or the “right way to be” is not really defined, so it may differ from school to school in terms of what is accepted or what is not. So, it makes it very difficult for adolescents to form their own identity somewhat organically, and forces them into a box of sorts in an attempt to fit in with what others are doing, instead of focusing on themselves and the person that they truly are.
The biggest issue with high school creating an alternate universe of a sorts is that once high school is over, everyone is out there in the real world to fend for themselves, and if they do not really have a predisposed idea of who they are, how can they continue to be anything other than what they know? High school is a mentally damaging environment for everyone, even those who relish their high school years. Who you are in high school does not necessarily dictate who you become in the future, but there is a strong possibility that the person you were in high school is going to be similar to who you are as an adult since a lot of the values you form as a teenager tend to carry through for the rest of your life. This is why it becomes hard to ever “leave” in a sense. Forming an identity while one is in one of the most obscure, separated, and scrutinized environments possible creates an impossible struggle later on in life to be one’s own person.
Shame
ReplyDeleteKids in high school are always focused on the little things. What should I wear? What kind of bag should I use? Do you think I would get judged if I used this? Most people in high school are very self-conscience. The little things turn into bigger things.
I think that high school is filled with shame. In the movies, high school is portrayed as the jocks being bullies, shoving people into lockers. Those jocks are usually making fun of the geeks of their grade. I can honestly say I have never seen anyone shoved into lockers but that does not mean kids are not made fun of for their looks or interests. High school is filled with groups. Each group has a label: jocks, athletes, geeks, outcasts. Often times many people feel as if they do not fit within one of those groups. Others tend to stick with their group and do not make an effort to get to know others.
Through sports and other school activities I have met people that I would have never gotten to know if it was not for those activities. I think that many people in high school do not give others a chance. People are more focused on themselves and other people opinions to take a moment to get to know people. As you get older you start to realize how precious time is and appreciate all the people around you. In high school everyone carries shame in one way or another. And people can still carry that shame after they graduate from high school. If I were to look back, I am sure I would find things I am not proud of. I think that shame is the reason why you never truly leave high school.
The Effects of High School's Social Environment on Students and Their Futures and What Should Be Done to Decrease the Severity of It's Effects
ReplyDeleteIn the article, the problems caused by the way that adolescents interact with each other in high school were discussed, but a question that was not addressed is how the education system should be adjusted to fix the current issues. The social issue in high schools, according to Robert Faris, a sociologist studying high school aggression, is that students are put in a “box” with students who are the same age without a clearly established hierarchy. This causes popularity to be based on things like appearance, athleticism, and what a student has instead of their personality and behaviour. These base popularity factors cause students who are labeled as unpopular to feel shame for not being attractive or owning expensive things. According to Brene Brown, a researcher at the University of Houston, 90% of adults who feel shame later in life for being labeled a certain way feel his way because of how they were labeled in high school. This shows that the social environment in high school has long lasting psychological effects on humans which could be prevented by changing the way that students interact.
The educational system should be changed to promote more interaction with other age groups, decrease shame felt by students for being the way they are, and make popularity based on personality as well as talents. Doing this would set students up for better lives after high school by improving their social skills and simulating the world outside of high school. Changes such as these would also decrease the psychological strain of high school social culture that is caused by cliques and the distorted hierarchy of popularity based on what a person has or looks like and not who they are as a person. Resolving these issues would also make it easier to continue to form an identity after high school and not feel the need to try to live according to the identity that a student had in high school.
One step that could be taken to improve the way that students interact would be to provide more classes and opportunities in which students would have to interact with other age groups and with students outside of their social groups. This would help students develop more broad interpersonal skills that would apply to life and work after high school. It could also create relationships between people in different levels of the social hierarchy which would not happen without them being forced to work together and get to know each other through collaboration. Changes like this would certainly improve the way that adolescents learn to interact and improve their futures by decreasing the importance of the traditional high school social hierarchy and making its psychological effects less severe and long lasting.
Misunderstood
ReplyDeleteHigh school students are often accused of being over dramatic or overly sensitive, but it isn’t always their fault. The anxiety from classes, homework, college applications and other stuff outside of school can cause a lasting affect on each person.
An experiment that was done showed that adolescents have longer lasting and more intense fear when it came to pairing an excruciating noise with a color than children or adults did. 30 days after this experiment was completed, the other age groups no longer associated the two things, but for the adolescents, Siobhan Pattwell said “Their level of fear was just as high… as if the experiment had just been done.” This shows that it's not the student's fault for stressing out and having anxiety, it has to do with where they are in the development process.
I often hear from my parents that I shouldn’t stress over the little things and that something shouldn’t still bother me that already happened, but I now know that this intensity is not just happening to me but it is actually due to how my brain is developing. Through other research that was done, I learned that as adolescents you have the highest level of intensity with emotions. After your brain finishes developing when you become an adult, you will never experience the type of intense emotion you would as an adolescent. Therefore students shouldn’t be ridiculed for having such great emotions, but they should be supported through the stressful and emotional time of high school.
This just goes to show that it's not the fault of the student for being over dramatic and over sensitizing things, because they cannot control it, they just need to be given time to let them develop the way they need to.
The Time That Changed Us
ReplyDeleteAs we go through life, we all go through different experiences that morph us into the people that we are today. Our families, friends, teachers, and everything that goes on in our personal lives play a large role in the formation of our identities, because they are what set us apart from each other. Despite these differences, I believe that for all people, high school will always have the greatest effect on our identities because it is the period of time that we transition from childhood to adulthood.
Many people believe that our success in high school impacts our future which is true on many levels. If you get good grades in high school, go to a good college, and get a high-paying job afterwards, that initially reflects back on high school, proving that the success in those 4 years lead to a prosperous future. However, this theory could go much further than that. If you have very high self-esteem in high school, this could lead to a greater amount of confidence later in life. A 2004 study revealed that two men with the same profession have a very different earning potential solely because one of them was shorter in height at the age of sixteen. However, the salary of these two men was not all that is affected by the height difference. In the article, Jennifer Senior states “It predicted a greater likelihood of marrying, better earning potential, better mental health”. This is proof that how much you value yourself in high school directly affects your life thereafter, because it can not only affect your successes getting a job, but it can also affect your marital status, and it could even determine the condition of your medical health as well.
However, mental health and earning potential are not the only aspects of our lives that are influenced by the 4 years we spend in high school. Later in the article, Senior says “the music you listen to for the rest of your life is probably what you listened to when you were an adolescent”. This is important because it shows that as you grow up, the average person does not give into the new trends of society, but rather they will remain loyal to the time that they came from. Music, physical appearance, and many other factors that take us back to our time of development, not only affect us during our years of high school, but for years beyond as well.
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ReplyDeleteConforming to Society
ReplyDeleteHigh School. This is where it all starts. People do not realize the impact of their high school years on their future. When people look back on their past after entering their adult years, they realize either how much they have changed from their teenagers years or if they have remained the same. Looking around at others is all teenagers in today’s society tend to do before they create their own inner being. High school plays a major part in our lives and factors out to being the primary reason we choose not to be ourself.
High school is referred and identified as a time where people begin to define themselves and truly begin to develop their identity. People become more mature and view things in a more grown-up way. Along with this comes the factor of trying to be in with the norm and do things the way society expects us to. Looking at today’s society I realize that my peers and other individuals are always trying to fit in with everyone else and do things everyone else is doing. This often becomes a challenge because people expect to define themselves throughout high school. The article, Why You Never Truly Leave HIgh School, says, “Though adolescents may want nothing more than to be able to define themselves, they discover that high school is one of the hardest places to do it (Senior 6).” This quote reveals the idea that many people in their high school years look forward to a time where they can truly identify themselves, which may change their future. With everyone depending on others, we are all influenced by the other people around us and never take the time to do something for ourselves. High school can be a difficult time for everyone trying to express themselves, but still trying to fit in with society.
When reflecting back on our life, we can see that the person they were in high school has shaped us to becoming something others never viewed us to be. Oftentimes, we notice that people turn out to be different than they were in their high school years because once they can begin to express their own thoughts and ideas in society, where they can, we become to do things differently. Depending on the school society in high school may not always be the best solution for everyone.
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ReplyDeleteSurvival of the Fittest
ReplyDeleteHigh School can be a very hard and difficult tie for the average adolescent to get through people say that it can be the tie of their life or the worst 4 years they have ever experienced. In highschool people realize that their environment that they work and live in for the 4 years is as fake as it gets. If high school was like the real world at all you would have to deal with people of all ages not groups or societies that badger and intimidate you into adapting to them or leaving you to be alone. Students and peers build hierarchies to either intimidate others and make them feel like they aren't good enough or to make others adapt and do things that they wouldn't usually do if they didn't want to fit in with the “cool” kids as much as possible. Overall highschool is nothing like the real world and people shouldn't take not being the best to heart.
In the beginning of the article “Why You Truly Never Leave High School” by Jennifer senior she explains how a her former classmate a “Closeted, half japanese orchestra nerd” named Kenji at the class's 25th reunion grabbed the jock Josh Glassman “By his tricep and asked him where the after party was.” This is a great example of how Senior shows how even though during highschool her classmate Kenji wasn't the standard “cool” kid he was more of a nerd but after being in the real world for 25 years and learning about what it means to be an adult and transitioning out of that awkward adolescent phase where all you try to do is fit in Kenji learned to be a well respected adult who makes things he wants to happen, happen.
Throughout my highschool career I have had moments of both that kid who tries to be “cool” and the kid who gets rejected for not being good enough. This mainly comes into my life in highschool now through sports. I don't play any schools sports so some people probably do not think I am athletic therefore excluding me from most hierarchies that are created due to athleticism. However I do play sports I play on an extremely competitive tier 1 AAA Hockey team that demands physical and mental preparation that most kids my age couldn't even fathom. The amount of physical training I have been through to play at the level I do today most kids wouldn't be able to make it through.
Even though I do this most of my classmates have no idea because it's not for the school. This has prepared me for the real world and taught me lessons that most of my peers have not learned. I think it will make my life all the easier that i didn't try to fit in with the “ best of the best” and I did what's best for me
Self-esteem
ReplyDeleteWhether you hate it or love it, high school is a part of life. Even after we graduate, the teenage versions of ourselves follow us in the forms of our memories, our old high school buddies, our behavior, and our self esteem.
One study used the common personalities exhibited in the classic movie, “The Breakfast Club,” to show how real high schoolers identify with these characters and how the self-proclaimed Jocks, Brains, Princesses, Basket-Cases, and Criminals really turn out after high school. The study stated that most of, “the categories were ‘immensely predictive,’” (Senior) of the future personalities of the subjects. Only two personality types seemed to have different self-esteem levels in high school and adulthood, the princesses and the brainy girls. At a first glance it seems like the study failed to predict how the princesses and brainy girls would act. When you take a closer look you can see the study shows that the self-esteem levels of the princesses go down and the brainy girls go up, meaning that the high school identity still predicts adult identity even in these cases.
But why is this? I believe it has to do with how the identities were formed in the first place. The article says that, “princesses are caught up in this external world that defines who they are,” which means that their high school friends, status, and other superficial qualities define them. They go with the flow and never think how devastating their lack of individuality will be after high school. They will eventually come to the cold realization that real life is nothing like high school. They will eventually realize that the world does not turn on good looks and popularity. They will eventually realize that they are not prepared for adult life and are not as important as they once were and that will decrease their self esteem tremendously.
In contrast, the self-esteems of brainy girls tend to rise after high school. While they were suffering through four years of emotional pain they learned how to cope with rejection and focused their attention on building actual skills that would help them get into college or get a job. After high school they realize that they can succeed on their own merit and don’t have to fit the mold to gain acceptance.
First Impressions
ReplyDeleteOne thing from this article that really stood out to me was that our reputations in high school are just as important as reputations are in the real world. First impressions can be tough but the unfortunate reality is that they can make or break you at many times in your life. First impressions can influence many employers decisions to hire or not hire you. Your attitude, looks, and many other qualities contribute to the impression you give off to others. If you’re a really outgoing and friendly person in high school, chances are you’ll do better at an interview than someone who had a miserable and mean attitude their whole life. This is because high school is where you learn the basics of social skills and how to display yourself to others.
In high school, first impressions are important because you’ll attract similar people to yourself based on the way you display yourself. The people you surround yourself in high school with are people who will influence you for the rest of your life. If you surround yourself with unmotivated and lazy people, you may be more likely to be not motivated throughout your career. High school is the prime time to learn how to make first impressions, so if you can’t make the proper first impressions then, you’ll never learn how.
This all being said, the person who you become in high school doesn’t have to be the person you are for the rest of your life. There’s always time to change yourself if you don’t like the person you have become at any given point in your life. However the best time to learn these valuable skills of first impressions is during your adolescence and in your high school years.
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ReplyDeleteThe article “Why You Truly Never Leave High School” by Jennifer Senior argues that people never leave high school because whenever they see each other they think about something that they were thinking in high school. They think they know about how the cool kids are living right now and what the look like. Even though someone may be successful now, if they were not cool or popular in high school no one pays attention to them. The High School experience never leaves people because it is a big part of their identity. It is only 4 years of your life but it’s a time when you are making your identity and it remains with you.
ReplyDeleteMy experience is different than everyone else in high school. For me, high school is just about studying. This is because I feel more adult. Even though we all have similar goals, I have had life experiences and difficulties that most of the students in my school have not had. For example, I work daily to support my family, and I still go to school and do homework. Also I am living with family apart from each other, and this is hard economically and emotionally for my whole family. Finally, when I was young, I had a very frightening experience of watching a bomb explosion. When you see something like that you stop thinking about playing and you start wondering, “why is the world like this?”
According to the article there are some people (like me) who are not the same as most of the kids in school. “There are some people who simply put in their four years graduate, and that’s that.” In some ways this is me. The author goes on to state, “most studies suggesting that memories from the ages of 15 to 25 are most vividly retained”. For me, my most vivid memories are not from high school. Instead, they are from watching a bomb blast and seeing my school in rubble. Another strong memory is leaving my homeland and coming to the U.S.A. which is a big change in my life and still I feel outsider in school.
This time of life stays with kids because this time is the time when they start being an adult and whatever they learn remains with them. I am stuck in how to solve my problems and how to pay my bills. I could not even think of living like other kids. I only think about how to finish my homework before I get done with school and go to work. I have been in Niskayuna for a year I could never get a chance to find a friend just because I am busy with my life.
The Great Shift
ReplyDeleteFor adolescents, high school is advertised as a place to discover their passions and express who they truly are. A place where they have the freedom to choose their friendships, their favorite clubs, and their view of the world. But it’s never actually that simple. Things always happen that were never anticipated. There’s pressure from multiple sources, rivalries between social groups, and problems are all too often met with apathy.
Throughout a teenager’s life in high school, they are met with pressure from their parents, friends, teachers, and even enemies. Many of these pressures directly work against each other, presenting a conflict where the student must choose how to spend their time or express themselves. Parents want them to get more sleep, but teachers give too much homework at a time. Their friends want to go and do something, but their enemies tell them that it would make them look stupid. One of the more common conflicts is when someone’s friends want to invite them somewhere, but there is a big project that they need to work on that day. The student must decide between having fun with their friends and putting off the project until later, or work on the project but blow off their friends in the process. High school becomes a juggling act that quickly becomes more than the student can handle.
What ends up happening is that the student is forced to abandon things that they used to spend a lot of time doing and replace them with things they didn’t enjoy doing before. What was once their passion becomes nothing more than something they don’t have time for anymore. In its place, there could be something they never thought they would be doing on a regular basis. The person who leaves high school is never the same as the person who entered high school four years earlier.