In every school, people are divided into cliques, a phenomenon that isn’t limited to movies and shows. They’re real—and you might even be in one as well. One might ponder whether there are really people who are preferred over others just because of the people they are friends with, and people interpret the answers to this differently. Some students at Hamilton believe that there are popular groups of people at our school, while others think there’s only such a small chance of it in such a big school.
When asked, many students commonly agreed that “popularity” depends on one’s specific SLC. AMPA junior Miles Courant reacted by saying that popular kids have “their own cliques in AMPA, SAS…they all have their own big group of popular kids that are at the top of the chain. But, there is no huge group at this school.” Humanities junior Haley Echeverria had a similar approach, saying, “I personally think that I don’t know who’s popular in SAS or CAA or BIT, but I know the popular people in Humanities.” With this in mind, not only do SLC’s divide us Hamilton students, but cliques do too. It’s clear that people have their own set of friends that separate them from everyone else, and while that may seem fine, some people take advantage of this separation.
Specifically, AMPA junior Nevada Dragon explains the difficulty of joining well-known peoples’ groups, stating, “I think it’s hard just ’cause they think they’re so much better than everyone and their fits are just so hard. You have to have a certain amount of aura before they can even consider talking to you.” AMPA junior Kevin Costumbre added on, mentioning how a lot of the time “it depends on how you look” and “how you present yourself.” This sort of elitist mindset, as said by AMPA senior Dominic Sadeghi, runs deep within members of our school. Because of this, people might feel excluded, and not comfortable enough to join groups that they’re interested in. Due to them being perceived as “different,” it makes it much harder for groups to expand.
But, people don’t always think this way. In fact, people like Humanities junior Alexander Richardson believe that it’s “pretty easy” to join other peoples’ groups. He mentions how it depends on if you like them or if they like you too. It too may be argued that the more outgoing you are, the more welcomed you may be into other spaces. Though, things like social anxiety run rampant during teenage years, especially through ages 13 to 18. These things can limit one’s ability to be included into specific cliques and worsen their social mobility.
Either way, it’s important that we as students, regardless of which SLC one may be in, welcome people no matter what. Whether you’re in a “popular” group or not, making your peers feel appreciated should depend on common interests rather than irrelevant things like looks, style, etc.
