find yourself, pt II

where in the previous entry, i would be happy to raise the awareness of (high school) social caste and niches, this entry sets off with a greater goal - the consequences of pigeonholing and hierarchical adherence.

it goes without being said that, having a place in this (high school) world; whether you relate to it or not, whether you deserve it or not, whether you fit into it or not; will only serve to enforce others' indoctrination of how the system works, and (unfortunately) in most cases impose the same upon yourself. sweet cardinal jesus, that's a long sentence, you might need to read that again. anyway, it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. let us take an example, again from my time in high school:

frogger is a beautiful person. beautiful irrespective of his external features, but because he has a gift for the literary arts, and better yet, an interest in it, where nobody at that age could give it three cents' worth. however, frogger is also 'smart'. in a society where your child's worth is measured by the number of a's he receives in the latest exams, there is only room for one definition of 'smart', being that of gift with the (science and mathematics) core education subjects. hence, frogger grows up for about 5 years believing that it is his destiny, to serve the world behind a desk, duelling numbers and fencing formulae. i later learn frogger had been chosen to break free of this, and found his love in journalism.

but, such a happy ending is not for all of us. indeed, it is probably not for the vast majority of cases, and they all end up conforming to the status quo of their own (given) caste and niche. again, riding both sides of the fence, there is nothing wrong with the status quos themselves, but i think that having them as a benchmark where one should be free to create one's own is an affront to... many things, not least the (preposterously) claimed leeway to chose your own future.

i slightly digress, but i remain on the point by reiterating, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy - by choice or by double-thinking oneself into belief (though this matters much less than the already alarming loss of individual free will).

i am not one to fight entirely for personal choices, though. there is a beauty in the necessity of having society take its hold on our decisions. however, when 'the greater good' becomes 'hive mind', i am thoroughly certain that the pigeonholing has far surpassed its functionality (on both the individual and societal levels) and become an unnecessary evil.

bringing it home: the consequence of (high school) casting with canonical roles and forms is that of an unimaginative people. unimaginative persons. unimaginative minds. do we still live with these restraints? only you can answer this for yourself. from a personal point of view, i found that i had never really released myself from such intricate binds, and sadly may never fully be able to do so. it is not to say that i shall now blame society and its flaws for (its manifestation in) mineself, but it does hold true that, if highschool really never ends, can we at any point in life see the greater picture (or lack thereof)?