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In my school, the football and basketball teams acted like those 80s movies, and I think they were essentially playing out the roles they saw portrayed in media

In my school, the football and basketball teams acted like those 80s movies, and I think they were essentially playing out the roles they saw portrayed in media. But swimming and track were very supportive, with nerds and jocks getting along well and some of the best performers being both the smartest and the fittest (more than myself in both regards tbqh.) What it taught me is that people can be strong, smart and compassionate all at the same time; life isn't like an RPG where you have to spec into one at the expense of the others.

the_only_law 3y ago
For me, middle school was a bit more stratified, but particularly later in high school, I never felt much vitriol or division across such simple categories. I was mostly cool with everyone, without ever belonging to a particular group. I learned to adapt and “code switch” among different people pretty very well, which has also carried over to adulthood. Though I do admit it’s been pretty isolating.