Reporter: Stephanie Cooper
Students are branded like cattle with a personality stereotype that lasts for the rest of their school life.
But in college these stereotypes can shape a happier future if students choose to stick with it.
In high school society students are labeled one of two different social statuses—“cool” and “uncool”. And personality stereotypes like jock, prep or nerd determine this social status.
Thankfully this type of thinking is abandoned once entering college and the mentality that comes with climbing a social ladder to be popular is nonexistent.
Being a ‘jock’ or a ‘nerd’ sticks with a student well through college, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The great thing about these stereotypes is that it allows a student to find a niche that can benefit goals that lead to future careers.
These personality stereotypes can be clichés, but there are few limitations on where your interests and hobbies can take you.
Jocks like sports, but perhaps they also enjoy the physiology behind the sport and end up studying sport medicine. And these interests can be applied to any stereotype that initially brands you in high school.
Even though nerds get a bum rap for being ‘losers’ they have zero limitations on where their interests can lead them. The phrase ‘nerds will rule the world’ comes to mind because nerds take an interest and obsess over it until they become an expert of that specific field.
Maybe one day there will be a need for a Pokemon expert and that nerd you knew from high school will finally have his time in the spotlight.
College life is a great boon to these stereotypes because it eliminates the need to be popular. It’s more common for people to interact with different types of people. That might not have been possible in high school because of the fear of losing a spot on a higher rung of the ladder.
To be a part of the college life it’s important to embrace your interests to grow and experience self-discovery. And it’s never too late to think about to the younger days and turn a favourite pass-time into a career that will truly lead you to happiness.
