There are many things that would make our world a better place if they just did not exist. Sure, there are the obvious, like wars and recessions, cancer and obesity, poverty and drug addictions-- but the thing that I am talking about is something that would truly improve our everyday outlook on things if it did not exist. And the winner is... stereotypes.
I deal with the burden of stereotypes almost everyday-- especially since I go to SMU and am involved in greek life. Some stereotypes are included but not limited to:
1. "Oh, you're in a sorority. So you're paying for your friends..."
2. "So you want to write for a magazine when you graduate. What kind? Fashion?"
3. "You must be rich, you go to Southern Millionaire University."
I'm tired of being labeled just because of what I am associated with. True, there are those certain people who feed the fire to the stereotype they represent; I am just not one of them.
To counter the stereotypes above:
1. Yes, I'm in a sorority. No, I'm not paying for my friends. In fact, I don't like a good number of people in my sorority (how the hell can all 130-something girls in an organization all get along?) I probably would not have even rushed if I went to a bigger state school. But, seeing how huge Greek life is at SMU, I thought I'd give it a shot.
2. Though there is nothing wrong with wanting to go into fashion, it's not for me. I hate it when people think that the only kind of magazine out there is fashion. I would like to cover news, but in the soft, magazine-style writing approach. I want to be the one winning Pulitzers, traveling to Africa, and writing some of the biggest investigative stories of the decade. I hate it when people assume automatically that I want to go into fashion, because it implies that that person thinks I'm not capable of pursuing topics of more substance. Yeah, I may be blonde, but there is more intelligence to me than what meets the eye (unfortunately, many blondes at this school give us a bad name because, they in fact, do act like idiots).
3. Just because I go to SMU does not mean I'm rich. Though I have a few things that are nice, most of my clothes are from Forever 21, I drive a Nissan Altima (not a Mercedes Benz), and probably the only reason my parents considered sending me here is because I received an academic scholarship (and I'm an only child, so they don't have to worry about putting other kids through school).
I wish that people would try out one day where they would not judge people based on what meets the eye. If people did this, a whole new door of possibilities could open. Somebody could meet their new best friend because they made an effort to get to know this person when they normally wouldn't. Somebody who would not normally be considered could earn a job position and produce very fine work for that company, and even earn that company some awards. People could accept help from someone they would normally least be willing to get help from, and end up better because of it.
The possibilities are endless, but we can't make these possibilities happen if we do not try. We are our own worst enemies: we let guards up around us before we truly give people a chance to prove themselves. If we just let these guards down, where could our world be in 20 years?
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