I Was Never One of the Cool Kids

Why you should not belong to exclusive groups

Being a part of several friend groups helped me recognize that not everyone had the same life and family experiences. Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Originally published to my Substack: Aggressively Helpful Writing Advice.

In highschool, I was never part of any one particular clique of friends. I kind of floated between several. Now, I’m not sure everyone has the strength for that, but if you do, I recommend it. Why?

Well, because I didn’t hang with only one group, I got to see perspectives I never would have otherwise. I got to see how different the families could be in our small town. I got to see traditions from several cultures and got to enjoy friendship enough with people that it kept me from being bullied as badly as I might have otherwise.

No one really wants to mess with the nice girl who has friends all over the place. Well, for the most part, anyway. Some bullies sneak up on you.

As I got into business and college, doing this had a whole other layer added to it. I risked being on the outside, looking in. Yes. But I didn’t want to limit myself to learning from just one person or one group of people. I networked with people from other departments. I showed respect and helped where I could, when I could. I didn’t show more focus to one group over another.