Looking back at high school, I remember so many factions of people. There were the jocks, the socials, greasers, cheerleaders, drama clubs, etc. Many of us were divided by the social boundaries of these clubs and sometimes we rarely strayed from the people in our immediate clan. A greaser hanging with a jock? No way!
At our class reunions, as you’d assume these boundaries would have been eroded by the decades, but still they prevailed at times. The class nerd may have accumulated billions by being smart, dedicated and focused, but he or she is still shunned at these reunions, and only given a perfunctory hello. So sad...
In high school, although I was very athletic, I remember having many types of friends, and not really belonging to any particular clique. Some of my best friends were extremely bright, awkward, or loners.
Sure, I was a real tomboy with my jockey ways, but I was also friendly with the art crowd, the music buffs, and even those in the rifle club. I was voted Class Clown, but there wasn’t a club for that. Those of us who enjoyed throwing tissue onto the ceiling in the bathrooms were in a class by themselves.
It was interesting to see where these groups usually sat in class. Usually the better students sat toward the front, arms popping up at every question. Those who were rebels sat toward the rear of the room, probably so they could ditch class if there was a fire drill.
I usually sat toward the middle front. I wasn’t bright enough to get all the questions right, but I was an eager and participatory student. Sometimes people would try to copy off my tests. I guess that’s a compliment.
When my sisters and brothers attended NHHS, there were a variety of social clubs. My brother Jack belonged to the Caballeros. I heard about many painful hazing rituals that were a rite of passage.
I believe my sister Lynn was a Charlatan, but I seem to recall that she really wanted to join the Vagabonds, which had all the cool girls.
In college, these clubs matured into sororities and fraternities, which weren’t popular when I was in school, except for a socialist community called Das Institute that embraced many of the political platforms related to the Vietnam War.
But in subsequent years, I guess these clubs came back into fashion, giving students a sense of belonging to something, like an extended family of sorts. But I always wondered if they instilled a bit of elitism or separation by isolating people into a social hierarchy. And for those who were never admitted into these clubs, I'm sure it was a painful experience.
What clubs or cliques did you belong to, and did you join a sorority or fraternity in college? If so, feel free to share your experience here on the Patch.
