Renaissance kid

In honor of the week-long vacation most high school students have around this time of year, I spent my first day of winter break at a performance of the musical, "The Book of Mormon.”

About halfway into the show, I caught myself laughing at yet another hilariously over-the-top musical number when I began to wonder whether my enjoyment of the show made me a theater geek. Some of my more jock-like friends at school occasionally poke fun at me for performing in my school’s fall play every year, but I don’t consider myself a theater fanatic. After all, I never participate when students at my school start to simultaneously belt the lyrics of some Tony-award-winning musical or gush over a Broadway actor. When I began to think of the other actors at my school who participate in the play with me every year, I realized that most of us are members for our school’s sports teams, are on student government or are immersed in a diverse combination of any number of activities at my school. Thinking of my fellow cast members, I couldn’t classify the majority of them as stereotypical "drama kids,” but wasn’t able to call them "jocks,” "preps” or "nerds” either. When I considered my other classmates, I didn’t see the high school stereotypes outlined in movies like "The Breakfast Club” or "Mean Girls.” Instead I found, for the most part, well-rounded overachievers: cello-playing soccer stars, filmmaking math geniuses, trilingual singers and the like. This decline in extreme social stereotypes could be attributed to the small size of my school. With only about 65 to 70 students per grade, it’s necessary for students to be involved in multiple activities for the sole purpose of sustaining a sports team, club or student organization. That being said, it also seems as though teenagers in general are becoming more multi-talented as the years go by. I can best describe many of the students I know as modern day Renaissance men and women — young experts in a plethora of subject areas and skills. Gentlemen of the Renaissance were expected to play a musical instrument, speak multiple languages, write poetry and more. The same might be said of many of this generation’s youth and, as a result, this army of Renaissance students is, perhaps, one of the many reasons college admission in the U.S. is growing increasingly competitive. Playing football for one’s high school is impressive, but being a three-sport athlete with straight A’s and a black belt in karate is even better when it comes to admittance into some selective institutions. Despite this inevitable increase in college admission competition, however, the slow extinction of stereotypes seen in ’80s movies should be welcomed. Diversity in interests can only lead to more common ground amongst high school students, creating a potentially unified community as opposed to the segregated, clique-ridden high school cultures seen in movies and sitcoms.

This recent Renaissance trend not only applies to social habits and activities, but also areas of study and academic interests. Many colleges claim that more of their students than ever are pursuing double majors (or majors and minors) in different and sometimes radically unrelated fields. While the U.S. economy and job market continue to change rapidly, it seems like an intelligent move to become learned in more than one field. At this rate of change, our current computer scientists and doctors will definitely be adapting to new technologies and medicine as our society progresses.

Despite my analysis of this supposed move toward well-roundedness amongst modern day teens and young adults, it’s also possible that my enjoyment of shows does indeed make me a theater geek or that another’s passion for calculus warrants classifying them a math nerd. I, however, would like to think that kids these days can and should be a little of each.

Chloee Weiner is a senior at Crystal Springs Uplands School. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.