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Cliques appear to disappear in college
BY KENDRA RICHARDS
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
We’ve all heard the term “Big Man on Campus,” but do we really know of anyone who fits the title? I haven’t yet been informed of the “popular group” or the “geeks,” so it leaves me wondering: Can one be popular in college, or do cliques disappear after high school?
“I don’t think UMD has cliques,” said junior Jaclyn Hillesheim. “I mean, the lines are clearly drawn. I think that people are more accepting.
People just find a group and hang out.”
“I don’t think that there are cliques—not as much as high school, definitely not,” said sophomore Beth Fruehauf.
Cliques may not exist in college, but to some people, they still exist on some level.
“There are cliques within organizations, but they are not cliques themselves,” said sophomore member of Gamma Sigma Sigma, Christina Sitzman. “When you are a part of an organization, those are the people that you meet and get along with because you share interests—you want to surround yourself with people that you get along with.”
There are many different reasons why people change when it comes to who they hang out with. “I think that it’s different now because the maturity level is higher,” said junior Griggs RA Alyssa Boos. “It’s a big school and there is a variety of people—too many people
to all be grouped and defined.”
With thousands of students on one campus, it’s difficult to label all of them.
“People don’t always come to college with a group of friends—it’s an eye opener,” said Hillesheim.
It seems that the new atmosphere and experience of college changes the way people live and act, resulting in significant changes of every day activities, such as making friends.
“Cliques change because people don’t have parents telling them to be home by ten or not to hang out with a certain group of people,” said Lamb. “You are out on your own, and the freedom is endless. People are more open and it brings out that change in how they make friends.” Many students think that the situation and lifestyle of college changes the way students make friends, but they also had something to say about how the people change, which seems to lead to the change in socializing.
“The freedom really changes people,” said Lamb. “I mean, I changed 100 percent when I came to college. I came in and tried new things and stood up for what I believe in, and I think that’s what it’s all about. College does that to everyone.”
Because people grow up and learn responsibility in college, they are also changing their ways of how they view people.
“They also become more accepting because there are so many new people,” said Sitzman.
UMD professor of Health Education and licensed psychologist Dr. Mitzi Doane said that adolescents tend to be group oriented and hang out with the people they identify with.
There may however, be scientific findings to why we socialize in only one clique in high school.
Because we have more neurons in our frontal lobe than we need, we spend our adolescence becoming more focused on what we want. This eventually stops when you reach the age of 23-25, said Doane. Which is right around the time college students find their specified friends.
“In college everybody does have their ‘group,’ but that clique is going to have more variety than it did in high school,” said Doane. “People have a broader definition of themselves.”
In high school, the problem was that there were competing environments said Dr. Doane. However, in college many students share the same environment.
“You can complain about a professor and complain about the food and how hot the dorms are and you’re going to create more intense relationships that are more likely to last than the ones in high school,” said Doane.
Eric Erikson, a German psychologist, has classified eight stages of development, which Doane mentioned works in correlation with finding out where you fit in. She said that Erikson’s stages five and six go from identity to intimacy. High school is the level when you are still trying to figure out who you are, while college is the level where you are ready for intimacy, she said.
The transition from high school to college, although not long, is significant. How we socialize and how we make friends changes because we grow, and we change because our situations become different.
Many people think that with social group, comes the “Big Man on Campus.” “I don’t think there is one person who is ‘top dog,’ who walks down the hallways slapping high fives with everyone saying what’s up,” said Lamb. “The campus is too big for just one person to be known to everyone unless you do something huge and crazy.”
Don’t be intimidated by anyone, and be open to new experiences.
“There are so many more people in college to get along with. It’s a new start. People just need to put themselves out there. Remember, everyone is in the same shoes,” said Freuhauf.
