Superficiality in Lexington: A Cultural & Artistic interpretation

Lexington High School excels at many things. Our academics are ranked among the best in the country, numerous clubs and organizations succeed on national and international levels, and many students find success after graduation. While LHS students have many passions, academic competition can be cutthroat. Students often forget the non-measurable aspects of life, such as forming meaningful relationships and promoting mental stability, instead striving for a higher grade or better essay. 

While maintaining high standards is essential, many LHS students seem to turn into robots in regards to assessments. An admissions officer for Brown University states that while academic standards can break applications, it doesn’t necessarily matter if a student is doing athletics, community service, academic clubs or anything else. What he’s looking for is why a student is choosing to do those activities and what they got out of it (USA Today). This is the key factor missing from many LHS students’ lives: people blindly participate in activities to build a resume. One of the most popular jobs in town is working at Rancatore’s, a local ice cream store. Polling suggests that Ranc’s has a very competitive application process. Such reporting leads me to believe that either many people have a burning passion for Ice Cream, or people are merely applying for the ‘clout.’ An LHS Senior says that “Instinctively, often impulsively, we accept society's promise of long-term success in exchange for studying hard, but our failure to evaluate what success actually means gets us wrapped up in the games of GPA calculations and Ivy League applications, and if taken to the extreme, an unwinnable game of material satisfaction."

Hip hop can provide some insight into this idea of superficiality. In his 2012 song “Poetic Justice,” Kendrick Lamar describes his complicated relationships and admires a friend’s lifestyle; he praises that one of his acquaintances lives “life on the everyday basis / with poetic justice.” After listening to Lamar’s song, I realized that his message of honest lives bringing bright futures resonates in our lives. If we begin each day with a blank slate and approach everything with the same set of morals—joy, enthusiasm, and respect—the morals we spread to other people will return to us. This idea of treating others how you want to be treated has been preached to us since elementary school, but I think that implementing this shift in mindset can alleviate stress at school. For many students, this will look like pursuing extracurriculars that interest you and being creative with your lifestyle. 

By comparing this idea across literary mediums, it is clear that this problem is not unique to LHS. By participating in activities to bolster a public appearance, people reinforce the institutions which encourage a homogenous society. At the end of the day, no amount of social clout justifies sacrificing our uniqueness as humans. 

by AARYA TAVSHIKAR