Odyssey through what’s cool

People have mixed reviews on their high school experiences. Some

say it was one party after another, while others have a different

recollection.

The basic premise in the memories is based upon the social lives

held in adolescence. There has always been, and always will be, the

well-known odyssey of what is “cool.” The objects placed in this

category may change, but the definition will not. Because no matter

what you thought back in high school, the majority of your decisions

were made to appear “cool.”

Another strange but true fact is the groups held dear by the

fibers of a students psyche. Everyone wants a group to belong to so

that they feel that they have been accepted, but not everyone gets

what they want. What about those kids who had to settle for a little

less than the quarterback of the football team?

In a harsh reality that lacks friendship, most children will

choose to take what they can get and find comfort in the fact that

they have someone they can relate to. But what is it that shapes

these traits that allow some people to be so at ease and others so

uncomfortable?

I have a theory on this one. It is all created in the first three

years of a child’s education. If you can think back, which you

probably can’t, you would probably realize that those who were cool

in your third-grade class remained on the top of the heap until you

lost touch with them.

I personally believe it was the physical education that did it. No

one back in elementary school dressed too free spirited. Most kids

had their parents dress them. So it had to be some physical activity

that every one could see. I blame softball the most, however, because

I wasn’t ever good at it.

The kids that hit home runs and stole bases were showered with

cheers and were always the first pick. I was normally the last choice

-- between me and the foreign kid who didn’t know how to play.

But let’s delve even further into what makes up this everlasting

quality. Perhaps it’s something that isn’t even the child’s doing.

What about the naming process? Now there’s a real important thing

most take lightly. Lets be honest: How many popular kids had names

like Hubert or Alouicious? Then think back and realize how many had

names like John or ... John. Kind of a funny coincidence I think, but

I’m not doubting the power of all the eloquently named infants. Some

day maybe little Jeremiah will become a star softball player, but

hey, in my opinion that’s overrated.

Now, for my last tangent, I think I’ll bring out a local favorite,

the money issue. The rich kids seem to always have the best parties

or get the nicest cars. It’s a good thing they get the big ones, too,

because this way they aren’t injured when they run me over while I’m

driving my Volkswagen. So let me say this: There is something out

there that makes some of us jocks and some of us nerds, but I

obviously have no idea what it is.

* JOEY RICHTER-KAZER is a Corona del Mar High School senior whose

columns will appear occasionally in the Community Forum section.