When you first enter high school and college, you already have common views of what you think your experience will be.
Students come to college not really knowing where they fit in, what career path to take, what decisions to make, and how to survive their first semester.
Students are put into groups by choice and the choices they make. Because in college we are exposed to different religions, backgrounds and hometowns of people.
Students are most likely picking their labels by being involved in clubs and participating in different activities here on campus.
The clubs here at Dixie State University are labeled by race, interest, age and skills.
But then we also have those people who make friends by basing it off their personalities.
I think instead of labeling people, we should embrace that everyone is different and accept it. Because labeling is basically the same as stereotyping. For example the
Gay-Straight Alliance Club, most people automiatically think the club is only for people who are gay and they don’t have a full understanding of what they really do as a club. The GSA is about community service and political activism.
There are a ton of stereotypes in college, but we shouldn’t engage and continue labeling. It gets hard at times because when we see different television shows and movies, it plays a role in labeling, for example they make it seem like college is a never-ending-party.
When in actuality college isn’t just party, party, all the time.
Personally when I watched movies related to high school and college, I imagined that it would really be like that when I started high school and college. I was a bit nervous going in as a freshman, just from referring back to the movies I saw and not really knowing what to expect when I started college.
The television shows and movies are some what similar to what I see here at DSU, but certain groups aren’t represented in a positive way. Smaller groups aren’t recognized, for example there are a ton of clubs here at DSU that a lot of people don’t know exist.
When college students watch different shows or movies it can affect them and young children as well. Young children might think that’s really how college is and the things they see on television will most likely stick with them. It will forever be in their mind.
Labels in my opinion kind of hinder people from knowing true personalities.
