Blogger Contest 2010

The Clique
-Eliana Levenson
From the dawn of time, high school has been a place of glory for some and heartbreak for others. A place where the mighty rule and the weaklings crumble, where the popular reign and the nerds just try and make it through. However, no matter where you fall in the high school spectrum, everybody understands the fundamental rules. High school is all about the cliques.

Now, as a high school senior, I’ve seen the clique system first hand, and my question is, is it really all that bad? For most of us, getting into high school is a time of anxiety and stress like nothing else we’ve ever experienced. In the clique system, however, stepping into high school is like finding a family, people with similar views, similar values, and similar interests, to help get you through the next 4 years of your life. For me, fitting into a clique was a way of finding my place in the great wide world that is high school. Sure, I lost touch with some of my old elementary school friends, but I also began to define myself as an individual and as an adult.

On the outside, especially to parents, the high school clique system can seem like a way of being exclusive or divisive, but from the inside it’s just the way it is, and personally, I’m thankful for it.