Devon's Transcendentalist Essay-- Rough Draft (so far)

I woke up late this morning. After a quick breakfast I rush to the car to get to school. Pulling out onto the highway, we merge with the long line of cars. Each car unique but confined to the single side of the one road they are allowed to drive on. Once I arrive at school I go to my locker, like the rest of my peers, and collect the books I need for my first class. Each locker is exactly the same, a dated green-blue that overpowers the hallways. Only the occasional birthday decoration, flyer, or name tag sets apart some lockers from the rest. As I walk into my first class, I look at the orderly desks. They are all lined up in a row, facing the whiteboard, ready to be filled with tired students. But my school is just one mild example of conformity. All around us conformity is evident.

            High school is a place where conformity is the norm everyday. No one wants to be the outcast, so they adhere to what is normal. If Ralph Emerson were to see a present day high school he would be shocked by the lack of individuality. I imagine, even in a different school, where cliques flourish and clubs are formed for students with common interests, not many would spread their wings and try to become friend with someone who doesn’t have similar passions as them. This issue in return divides a school into sections: jocks, nerds, popular kids, theater kids, cheerleaders, etc. But what about the others who have relevance that is not stereotypical? They remain unseen, unimportant, and forgotten, because they are not like the rest. This is because “there is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide.” In reality the ones who conform are the ones who imitate one another. No one can be so one-sided, everyone has there own interests and qualities that make them unique. But, those wishing to be part of a group could leave some of their best aspects behind to fit in. But, what about those who still are not a part of a clique? Some just blend in and become a wallflower, not disturbing the status quo. Meanwhile the others flourish and dance to the beat of their own drum, individuality radiating from them.

            But here I still am, daydreaming about a disgusted Emerson walking through a picture perfect high school. The bell rings, and I collect my stuff. As I walk down the crowded hallway I notice another thing, fashion, which is the symbol of individuality, also involves conformity. Every girl wears leggings while every boy wears hats. Even I am guilty of conforming, but this is the fault of the media. Magazines, movies, TV shows, celebrities, and even music tell us what we wear makes us “cool.” This is why certain styles are harder to find for sale, because they don’t sell. So, you have to buy what is available. This shows that it isn’t just adolescence which takes place in conformity, it is the media. They tell you how to act, what to listen to, and what to even wear.

And then I didn't finnish because I got writers block and didn't really know what to write. Whoops!