In high school I thought it was me and my friends against the rest of the school. We were the rebels who didn't want to conform and looked down on most of the people on campus. I realized junior year that I was horribly wrong.
What gave us this mentality was our numbers. We had around ten of us and that made us feel secure. We carved a niche and stuck to it. One day in gym I was talking to a girl who wasn't "one of us". I asked her why everyone didn't get along at our school. She then said what really changed my life "We all do, yall just choose to ignore it". I then realized that my friends just perpetuated this self isolation, but we never bothered to figure out why we did it.
I went to my friends and told them what I thought and they had a rather negative reaction. They thought I was only listening to her because I was into her and wanted to date her. They quickly put the ultimatum that it was them or her. After much deliberation I decided that I was not going to spend the rest of my time with them and left. This was the best decision of my high school life.
I quickly realized that there was an entire world I was just shutting out and that I had many experiences and opportunities for friends waiting, but I was the one shunning them. This change lead me to become the outgoing, social person I am today, instead of the jaded loner I used to be.
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