(no subject)
I debated about this with myself before finally concluding that yes, maybe it's worth a post.
What do we think of those people we know who are often found alone? They might enjoy being by themselves, or they might be trapped without company through no fault of their own. Do we pity them? Are they a curiosity? Why do we sometimes ostracize them?
Some put themselves in positions that make being alone seem reasonable enough. It's hard to befriend someone who is always bitter about something, or someone who is just socially awkward. Sometimes the two go hand in hand.
My sample of the human condition this time comes from the attitudes that people in my club have developed for one of our interns, who I've found to often be alone. Knowing the crop that I come from, I normally sympathize for the lonely kid in any crowd, including this one. She is one to pick fights and isolate herself, refusing to talk to staff members or mingle with new faces to help them feel welcome. It's gotten to the point where the staff was almost unanimously ready to vote her off our team. I was the only one standing up for her, mostly because I didn't know her, and never got a chance to talk to her. I later realized that no matter how much I tried to talk to her in the past, she never opened up about anything.
The organization I'm in is a sociocultural club, and as such, its main focus is to organize fun, non-academic, and non- or minimally-political events for the general members. After talking to the lonely intern, I figured she was more of an activist and redirected her to the most active student action committee I knew on campus, and had friends in. She went, checked out their mission and events, and found that she didn't like it for some reason. Turns out she wasn't really much of an activist; she was just pissed at something. The kid seemed to be going through the ordinary growing pains of college, but something seemed off about this one. Maybe she didn't get ostracized--maybe she ostracized herself.
Apparently, I've got a fight of my own here. Twenty-three and still trying to keep the peace in an on-campus student organization that doesn't really make an impact in anything. Twenty-three, and still feeling the growing pains of being a role model for those younger than me. I wouldn't say I'm doing the best job.
What do we think of those people we know who are often found alone? They might enjoy being by themselves, or they might be trapped without company through no fault of their own. Do we pity them? Are they a curiosity? Why do we sometimes ostracize them?
Some put themselves in positions that make being alone seem reasonable enough. It's hard to befriend someone who is always bitter about something, or someone who is just socially awkward. Sometimes the two go hand in hand.
My sample of the human condition this time comes from the attitudes that people in my club have developed for one of our interns, who I've found to often be alone. Knowing the crop that I come from, I normally sympathize for the lonely kid in any crowd, including this one. She is one to pick fights and isolate herself, refusing to talk to staff members or mingle with new faces to help them feel welcome. It's gotten to the point where the staff was almost unanimously ready to vote her off our team. I was the only one standing up for her, mostly because I didn't know her, and never got a chance to talk to her. I later realized that no matter how much I tried to talk to her in the past, she never opened up about anything.
The organization I'm in is a sociocultural club, and as such, its main focus is to organize fun, non-academic, and non- or minimally-political events for the general members. After talking to the lonely intern, I figured she was more of an activist and redirected her to the most active student action committee I knew on campus, and had friends in. She went, checked out their mission and events, and found that she didn't like it for some reason. Turns out she wasn't really much of an activist; she was just pissed at something. The kid seemed to be going through the ordinary growing pains of college, but something seemed off about this one. Maybe she didn't get ostracized--maybe she ostracized herself.
Apparently, I've got a fight of my own here. Twenty-three and still trying to keep the peace in an on-campus student organization that doesn't really make an impact in anything. Twenty-three, and still feeling the growing pains of being a role model for those younger than me. I wouldn't say I'm doing the best job.