Alienation-everyone can agree it's not something that one looks forward to. It's not something that falls high up their on people's favorites list, or comes into play during fond reminiscing. And as we think back on the times that we where alienated, or subjected to separation, there just might be a pattern...
Granted, alienation happens everyday, in every way, and there is no telling when it will strike, or what you can do. However, it almost seems as if alienation is more apparent at certain times in our lives. Say that you didn't go to this school for all ten years of your school life, say you went to an elementary school, then a middle school, and finally a high school. Here, we where always told about the big changes that where coming about, as we dramatically moved down one locker row in the hallway. Here we where told, that now we would have bigger responsibilities, and that we might need to adjust to this shocking change. We kept our friends, we kept many of our teachers, we kept the same building, we only moved up a grade level! What about those people who didn't end up going to the same middle school building as all their elementary friends? Who where really experiencing these big changes, and not just thinking that they where. Splashed into a building full of new faces, new ways, and unfamiliar places, this was the way these students went, and are going through school. It seems to me, that alienation seems most apparent in the "transitional stages" we go through in life. Whether it be something like changing a grade title, or moving from the realm of child to adult. The transitions are always the weakest, the breaking points when we have to almost start over. These are the times when we are exploited, and alienated, and until we learn to adapt to that new situation, it will continue. Not only that, but some people never get the chance to adapt, and never reach the level where they are not shunned. Why does this happen? Because we don't let them
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Daaaaaaaang Joni, I see that young insight!
ReplyDeleteI would completely agree. The transitions of changing schools/grade levels really forced me to adapt, and it frequently made me feel separated and surrounded by unfamiliar things (especially when I came to a new school). Honestly though, I think the feeling of alienation makes you stronger, which is why I think it's important to go through it. But I would also agree that you need to reach the level where you are not shunned, because being alineated forever is not the way the world should work. Hopefully Holden will reach that young level someday soon.
I think that you are right about how at NU, when you have gone here for a long time it is different than for the new students that come, that not saying that we don't ever feel alienated from groups, or that there are some who never get in any groups. Alienation seems to happen a lot to new students when they try to come to school if they know no one. It was different for me, because I got to meet people before I came to school, but I can see how hard it would be to come into high school, in a grade where most of the students have been together for more than just high school. I think it is good for us (at NU) to think about how it is for the students who go to public schools, and how different it is to go to different schools for elementary, middle, and high school. I hope that all of the new student that come to our school and other new schools would not feel alienated for very long into their new year. I would say that this is probably one of the reasons why Holden feels alienated, because he has gone to several different schools. Hopefully he will find one that he likes, and makes friends, and hopefully does well in his school work.
ReplyDeleteI understand where all of you are comming from but i think you are missing one big part of this. You all seem to think that alienation happens at the transition stages but you did forgot something big. Yes alienation starts in the transition stages, but it stays for usually the duration of the event(high school, or job). Alienation doesn't occur because of transition that is just when it is most noticable. The fact about alienation is that it occus when someone just doesn't fit in with the normal. For instance when i first came to NU i fit into a group by the first day and ws completely accepted (atleast by that group) within a week just because of how well i fit in. However if i was so different from all the social groups at our school that i couldn't fit in with any of them then i would still be alienated today unless i changed who i was.
ReplyDeleteAgree completely, that was actually what I was trying to get at, at least I thought i was. I'm ABSOLUTELY NOT saying that this is the only time that alienation occurs, just that this is when it is most prominate/easy to happen or make happen. This is kind of awesome that I've had some long time NU goers as well as newer ones comment! In my experience, alienation happens everyday, to anybody at anytime, these are just the basic persay stereotypical times when alienation is most prominate/most written about/ most complained about/most obvious ect. ect.
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