Nerds. Jocks. Theater Geeks. Emos. Goths. Mean girls. Troublemakers.

I could go on with that list forever. The point of these names is to classify other people based on one thing about them. The first judgment you take of them. It’s unfair to many, and it hurts more than it helps.

So why do we do this?

It’s human nature of course, but this causes division and stereotyping. It causes unneeded separation among those who should come together. You could take any of those “social groups” and match them with a stereotype. For the mean girls, it is your stuck up, rich, entitled girls. For the nerds, it’s the comic book-loving, antisocial ones. But these assumptions aren’t fair.

It isn’t fair to conclude that just because it looks like a person is part of a specific group, they fit that stereotype. It isn’t even fair to conclude that this group of people is just like that in the first place. Unfortunately, it happens way too much. Especially at FHC.

As people, we hate being classified, but we have no problem doing it to others. You can find yourself “classifying” others on a daily basis. I do it, and everyone is guilty of it.

It isn’t that these classifications are a bad thing or that you are a bad person for doing it. They just cause more separation and harm rather than helping. We should break these boundaries among these groups.

Even outside of these “titles,” we fall into these groups or cliques– like when we speak to only those we know. A lot of it does come down to comfort, and yes, having your friend group is a perfectly normal thing, but we tend to exclude those outside of it.

Just recently I saw an event that gave me hope on this topic. A group of girls were going on a trip and had their group all planned out. Another girl asked my teacher if she could go talk to the trip advisor about either finding a group to be in or going solo. One of the girls in the group asked if she would like to go with them on the trip, and the girl happily agreed.

These girls knew of each other, but from what I have seen, they aren’t close or in the same “friend group.” They disregarded that fact and offered this almost stranger a spot in their group. Both girls seemed happy about coming together. It was a totally unnecessary act. The group could have turned their back on her and said nothing but instead chose to reach out to this other girl.

If this group of girls can come together and break these boundaries of friends groups and social class, anybody can. It makes the world a better and happier place.

I encourage you to take the message of what I am telling you and break that boundary. Follow these girls’ example. Talk to someone new. Make a new friend– even if it is something as simple as just asking how their day is going. After that, you can tell yourself, “Hey. It wasn’t a lot, but I broke out of my group today.”