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Popularity -- All It's Cracked Up To Be

Author: Sara Jamison

Published on: August 1, 2001

Popularity.

Some of us have it, and some of us don’t.

And some of us are holding onto what we do have, which might be a step behind popularity and a leap ahead of nerdism.

But hey, no matter where you are in the social groups at school, you should be proud of where you’re at.

There are typically considered two social levels in school: popular and unpopular. But many fail to remember there’s another level, the in-betweenie weenie. Read: well, there is no technical term. We’ll go with the boring name “middle group.” (I know, I’m lacking creativity here…)

Personally, I would consider myself in the middle group. I have (or had, I guess you could say, considering I graduated from high school in May…geez, I still feel like I’m there…LOL), I had some more popular friends, and I had some less than popular friends. But you know what? Both levels were just the same. I really don’t understand what makes a person popular or unpopular. It seems that they are just stereotypes, like, “She was the only one that got a hundred on the test. She’s super smart.” Read: a nerd. Same thing if someone sees a peppy cheerleader dating a new guy each week. Sometimes she’s viewed as a slut and sometimes she’s viewed as wanted, pretty, and popular. Depends on your status, I guess. It’s funny how high school is, though. Everyone feels that being popular is THE thing to be. When really, it won’t matter down the road. In other words, when you graduate, no one cares anymore. No one cares that you were in DECA, no one cares that you were homecoming king or queen, and you’re definitely not going to win over that job because you used to date the treasurer of the Student Council. Not to sound harsh or rude, but no one will care.

Popularity is a high school thing. I don’t feel that students should strive to be popular. Personally, I don’t think it’s all that it’s cracked up to be. I mean, what do you get with popularity? Stop and think. What do YOU get with being popular? Better grades? No. Better in sports? No. When you think about it, you don’t get anything with being popular. If you do, please let me know, maybe I’m just in the dark about that. But you shouldn’t get into sports because you think it will make you popular. You shouldn’t drink or do drugs because you think it will make you popular. You shouldn’t date around if you don’t feel comfortable because you think it will make you popular. You shouldn’t put up with verbal abuse from a popular crowd because you think it will make you popular by being seen with them.

Most importantly, you should be you. Never strive to be someone you’re not. Don’t change yourself. Take a tip from someone who has been there, done that, and is not your older sister or your parents—popularity isn’t everything. Being yourself is everything.