Blog #12

 

 

      High school is a memorable experience in the life of every teenager─ for better or worse. One of the many distinct characteristics that mark this turbulent period is the interactions between a student and his/her peers. These interactions can be terrifying if one lacks social skills or is even remotely different than the status quo. Unfortunately, this is the case for some students that fit the preceding description. I recall an experience during my senior year in high school. I had made varsity in our cross country team and there was a new crowd of junior varsity. There were several freshmen that managed to place jv and naturally, they were excited. Sebastian was among one of the new jv’s. As is the nature of high school, there were cliques by grade levels, and running status within the cross country team. It seemed obvious that Sebastian would attempt to make friends with the jv’s, but when that did not work out, he sought the friendship of the varsity seniors in the team. He was awkward, and completely fit the description of Bill Haverchuck from “Freaks and Geeks.” One time during practice, the varsity group was talking about the hell that is finals week, when Sebastian completely interrupted and blurted out “I hate tempo runs!” Everyone was a little baffled not only because he screamed loudly and scared half the team, but his comment was unrelated to the conversation. He went on to say tempo runs were ineffective and a waste of valuable practice time. He insulted the team captain, Luis, since he was in charge of organizing practice runs, and he kept on interrupting other people as they were trying to react to Sebastian’s comments. Luis, feeling the most vulnerable to Sebastian’s comments, confronted him and told him to “shut up and go away.” The coach approached the situation and tried to make amends between the two students. He made them both apologize to each other, but Luis kept on telling Sebastian to stay away from the varsity clique. The coach simply called Sebastian over and kept him company until practice started and did not deal with Luis appropriately. Throughout the rest of the year, Sebastian and Luis did not get along. Sebastian kept making random comments during group conversations he was not usually a part of, and Luis always kept on telling him to keep quiet. Even though the lead coach and his assistant coach were aware of the tension, there was never any type of effort to mend this situation to help Sebastian feel included, find a group of friends, or help his social skills.