Today, teenagers view success in high school as being popular and fitting in. They forget to be their own person in hopes of being like the “cool kids.” Whether they look cool enough to fit society’s standards or not should not be the main focus in their daily life.

The idea of  being cool finds itself engraved in most high school students’ brains, but to a disadvantage. The people who strive to be one of them often lose sight of themselves because they get so wrapped up in trying to be someone they are not.  You are who you are, and the real “cool kids” are the ones who are genuinely comfortable being themselves.

“I think people should learn to embrace their flaws and qualities. It’ll ultimately boost their confidence and be obvious to those around them. Those who work towards being someone they’re not are – deep down – very unhappy,” senior Allyssa Dobkins said.

On the other hand, the idea of being popular can be very tempting. With it seems to come the one thing that everyone wants: social capital. Being socially influential is something most people dream about in high school causing them to think that if others have it then it is worth being like them, since “they just seem to fit in.”

It is beneficial to have someone successful that you admire or look up to, but it is not a good idea to admire them for the wrong reasons. Social influence should not be a reason to see someone as worthy of imitating. Also, if someone notices that you act exactly like them, they could take it the wrong way and be offended by your effort to imitate them. It is important that you have a role model figure, but not to the extent of overdoing the admiration for the wrong ideals.

“I think that [people] should just be themselves. The world was made to have many different people with many different cultures and ideas so therefore, people should just live their lives so others can simply live their own lives,” freshman Daniel Krulig said.

It is important to stick to who you are and to not get wrapped up in what everyone else is doing. All of the other cool kids are taken, so you are left the choice of being your own kind of cool kid.