The following post was written by Will W. in response to the Day 15 Challenge Action: Sit at a different table in the cafeteria at lunch. Break social boundaries and maybe make some new friends.
For Day 15 of the Responsible Citizenship Challenge, I was tasked with sitting at a different table at lunch with a new group of kids. I decided that not only was I going to sit with kids from a different social group, I was going to sit with kids from an entirely different culture. This year at BHS, we have a handful of students who have transferred here from different countries. We have two students from Italy, one student from Brazil and one student from China. Interestingly, they all choose to eat lunch together. Despite coming from different corners of the globe, they all find a common ground in their experiences as newcomers to America. High school cafeterias are a perfect illustration of the cultural division in society. While it may seem like everyone is merely sitting with their friends, a quick observation will reveal the clear social groups. Students subconsciously group themselves by ethnicity, academic ability, extracurricular activities, or perceived “popularity”. I found myself guilty of this grouping myself, as I tend to sit exclusively with students from the band. The goal of Day 15 was to break down these divisions, even if just for a day. In my 20 minutes with a new set of students I realized I had more in common with them than I could have ever imagined. Honestly, I went into lunch bracing myself for forced conversation and long, awkward silences. To my relief, the students were friendly and welcoming. Each lit up when I asked them about their lives before moving to Burlington and their plans for the future. Much like myself, academics play a major role in all of their lives. Even more surprisingly, we all have pretty similar interests. All four of them hope to have careers in science. We spoke about our experiences in Burlington, and shared our favorite spots in Boston. I realized that, despite growing up thousands of miles apart, we were not very different. We are all teenagers, and we are all people, so why do we assume that we are so different? This challenge may have only been for one day, but I have found myself in the midst of new friendships that will last far beyond today.
7 Comments
Christina
3/27/2017 10:49:44 am
Will, I really like that you participated in this challenge. I feel that this is one of the few challenges that people would not do because it's such a daunting change, especially if you have sat with the same friend since freshman year. Just like you mentioned, high school is full of people that group themselves together based on likes and dislikes, cultural backgrounds, and many other aspects of their lives and it is truly the perfect representation of our political state. With the recent election, our world is more divided than ever. I feel that we need to integrate more actions such as sitting with a different group of people more often because it breaks the divide. It allows people to interact with other from different cultural backgrounds, different political views, and so many more things can our society today can benefit very highly from.
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Ama
3/27/2017 04:31:01 pm
Will, I enjoyed reading your blog post and I am delighted to hear that you had a good experience. If I had to be honest, out of all the challenges, this was definitely the hardest one. I for one did not participate in this challenge because I did not want to experience the awkward silences and blank stares. I am one of those people who likes to avoid uncomfortable situations. This challenge really shows that change, even though it can be beneficial through exposing you to new things, can be quite difficult for many. It is interesting that there are so many people in this world that you are in common with and all you have to do is look for them. I completely agree with your idea that people have the tendency to sit with people that share similar interests which of course, causes a divide among people since everyone has certain preferences. It was good to see that you stepped outside your comfort zone and immersed yourself into a whole new environment.
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Aashay Madhani
3/28/2017 01:55:58 am
Will, I want to start by offering to you my sincerest congratulations for your brave and meaningful display of responsible citizenship. The challenge of introducing yourself into an entirely new group of kids is not only difficult, but also great practice to adjusting to college next year. I think the parallel you pointed out between how a high school cafeteria can be a perfect metaphor for cultural divisions in our broader society was absolutely brilliant. Its completely true. We often forget it, but the interactions between high schoolers in many ways plays as an allegory for the "real world," and the idea of social classes, racial and cultural divisions, and even different personalities in many ways stems from the people we chose to associate with, but more importantly who we choose to avoid. Its the basis of how our society interacts, but that doesn't mean its a good system. Just like you pointed out, it can be an evil mechanism that categorizes people into a particular model that they probably don't fit (i.e the kids surprising you with the interest of science), and if we're willing to test ourselves we may find that the "other side," isn't so different after all.
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Rachel Bolognese
3/30/2017 05:33:15 pm
Will, this challenge was clearly not an easy one, and you truly set an example by stepping out of the social norms in order to integrate yourself into a new environment. I agree with you, one-hundred percent, on how the cafeteria is a place for cultural divisions. People tend to judge others based on who they sit with in the cafeteria, which only shows us how socially driven our community is. For some reason, teenagers care about who they are seen eating lunch with, as if its supposed to promote or demote their social status, and in high school, social status is one of the most important things to teenagers. By changing things up and sitting with new people, as you have done, I think it's a great way to break these norms that you have to sit with the same people everyday and that these people define who you are, when really it's not the case. Your participation in this day shows that even though we divide ourselves based on social similarities, we're all still teenagers at Burlington High School, so we must have at least one thing in common. There were some kids who weren't participating in the challenge and laughed at the idea of sitting at a new table as if someone was telling them they had to sing and dance in front of the whole school. It just puts into perspective how wound up we are on social cliques that we alienate ourselves from getting to know other people, who may actually be a lot like us and could be good friends in the future. I applaud you for participating in this difficult activity, and it makes me happy to hear that you bonded with these students.
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Erin Hanafin
4/2/2017 11:20:56 pm
Will, I loved reading about your experience with this challenge. I think this post truly expressed what it means to be a responsible citizen. To put yourself in a setting that you might not have been comfortable in but working around that fact to create a welcoming environment where you engage in meaningful conversations with your peers was a great demonstration of responsible citizenship. I really liked how by sitting with other people you made new connections with someone you might not have talked to before this challenge. I found it so impressive that you could find similarities with people from completely different cultures. It really shows that there is no reason to see people differently no mater where they might come from. This example emulates what the whole citizenship challenge is designed for, it brought unity between different members of the community allowing everyone in this environment to be seen as equals. I like the connection that you made with the lunch room as a place of division although it brought you closer to people and created new friendships. I hope sharing this post will inspire others to follow your courageous lead and make new connections with people and forget the boundaries that labels place each other. I am glad that you were pleasantly surprised with your experience and I hope others can follow your lead and leave the social division found in high school behind.
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Meghan Murray
4/3/2017 06:04:00 am
Will,
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Shivani
4/5/2017 05:34:48 am
Hi Will,
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