When the film “Mean Girls” came out in 2004, it gave the world an inside look into school cliques. The movie showcased a particular scene where two teenagers were educating the main character about how the cliques were broken down by where they sat in the cafeteria. There were the jocks, international students, band geeks, nerds, artists, cheerleaders and the list goes on. Although the movie was a dramatization of social groups in middle and high school, it was still based on truth. Fast-forward to college and we’re still dealing with the same issue.
When my class first arrived at SCAD in 2012, anyone and everyone was considered a“friend.” We were all so desperate to be included and belong that whoever we laid eyes on who was the same major as us, knew all the words to Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass,”or whoever we had previously cyberstalked in our class’s Facebook group were immediately deemed “besties.” You could always tell who the freshman were because the friend groups always occupied an entire table or two in the Hub. Safety in numbers, right? That all changed by midterms of the first quarter however, which was to be expected of any freshman. We narrowed down friendships to the people that we clicked with but still were open to meeting new people, learning about their background and trying new experiences.
Now I feel as though we are all so stuck with our solidified friends groups that no one notices each other anymore. I walk through the Hub and see the same people sitting with each other each day. Don’t get me wrong; nothing is wrong with having best friends. But I find it sad that we aren’t taking advantage of SCAD Atlanta’s small campus and working and living together as a family. I know we all may have started SCAD at different times, transferred from other schools or are just coming back to school, but I feel that we all could learn from each other if we just sat down at a different table one day or approached someone new in the hallway. I can say that I’m guilty of heading straight home from an exhausting day of class and work, but I’m trying to make it my mission to get outside my comfort zone and talk to a stranger or make some new friends before I graduate.
