What is High School About?

*Please enjoy this fun, innovative piece from our guest blogger, Serena Young*

What is high school about? From gaining and losing friends to how sleep-deprived you are to how good your grades can be while making it look effortless, high school seems like a clash of emotions and hormones with a sprinkle of temporary learning material. In reality, high school is nothing more than an experimental stage in the larger experiment called life. It’s a time to make mistakes and try new things and have fun with basically no consequences.

Yet, when it comes to some things like fashion, I don’t see the memo being quite so received. Arriving at the party, almost all the girls are wearing tiny mini dresses, tiny noodle straps and tiny heels. Watching the crowd is like watching a pile of jumping sprinkles: the same kind of product just in different colors.

Why can’t someone be original?

Everyone has their own style. It doesn’t have to be permanent and it doesn’t have to be just one, but to drop your clothing identity to conform to what everyone else is wearing isn’t the point of fashion.

I’ve started to realize through Homecoming week, when each day is a different theme, that my clothes didn't just offer a different way others could look at me, it also became a way I could express myself. When I put on an elegant velvet dress to play Lady Tremaine for Heroes vs. Villains day, I found myself acting more regal than before. When I threw on my brother’s boy scout uniform for Dynamic Duo day (I was Russell, the kid from Up, and my friend was the old man, Carl) I acted more silly and carefree than usual. And on Teen day, when I wore a Kpop outfit, I was more laidback in how I acted.

That’s when I stumbled upon this thought: Fashion is an enhancement of personality. I don’t buy clothes to change my outfit, I buy clothes to change who I can be. Experimenting with who I am, isn’t that the point of high school anyway?

~ Serena Young

Instagram: @loveserenayoung