A week of lunch without friends

Junior Elijah Yi

High school is filled with cliques and social groups. Glancing around the campus during lunch, these divisions are incredibly apparent and visible. So, what would happen if someone interrupted the social norm and tried to join a completely different group for lunch? For a few days, I had the pleasure of doing just that.

At first, excited and compelled by the thought of meeting new people, I embarked on this quest to break the social rules. I quickly learned that it was not an easy goal to achieve.

When the bell rang to signal the end of lunch on the first day of my experiment, I realized what I was getting myself into and was horrified by the thought of doing something different. But my curiosity about the experience compelled me to muster up some courage and continue with my plans.

On the first day, after overcoming the initial fear, I had no difficulty with meeting new people. I stumbled over a group of sports-loving sophomore boys sitting under the trees in the quad and decided I would join them for lunch. At first there was a slight awkwardness in my conversations and my presence, but there was also a certain ease to it all. After talking and eating, I spent the rest of my time playing basketball with one of my new acquaintances in the Small Gym.

On another day of my adventures during lunch, I once again searched for a group to hang out with. This time I was drawn to a table of friendly looking faces of Asian sophomore boys and girls sitting under the overhang of the cafeteria. I spent my time talking and listening to them raving about their recent attendance to a conference held by Wong Fu Productions, a video-making group on the
Internet.

The amazing thing about this lunch was that I was reunited with a friend who I had not seen since elementary school when he moved away. I was dumbfounded. I had no idea that he attended this school now.

Feeling especially courageous on the final day of my experiment, I joined a clique of a few quiet freshman boys eating in the English room halls. It was a risky move and could cause embarrassment, but I decided to take a chance with them.

During that experience, I felt that I had made the group very uncomfortable. Though they allowed me to join them for lunch, they seemed shocked and suspicious and asked at my motives in eating with them.

After they had finished eating and we had talked about weather and life as a freshman, they left me to go to the library; I assumed it was a their way to escape the unusual situation that I had created. I ended up spending the majority of that lunch eating with my own friends.

Besides that last day, I found the social experiment to be an enjoyable break from the usual. I found myself casually talking with the people I was eating with, and I soon forgot that I was on an experiment to break barriers. I even got a few friend requests on Facebook from some of the students that I hung out with.

Generally, it may seem hard to penetrate social barriers, but, at our school at least, it was relatively easy and enjoyable after getting over the initial awkward greeting. Through these experiences I was able to meet some interesting people I would not have otherwise gotten to know.

So if you ever see me coming toward your group with a big smile, be ready to make a new friend.