Every high school has a pecking order, a sort of food chain where consumers dominate. But a lot of times this firm system of placement is confused with social status and class rank, when in reality it's not about categorizing and separating the jocks and cheerleaders from the nerds and nerd-ets in a complex popularity complex, it's much more simple than that. Upon entering high school, grade levels 9-12 are assigned alternative names; Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. At the top of the chain rests the Senior class, correspondent with the whale, and dominating the food chain. At the bottom rests the Freshman class, floating amongst the zooplankton and phytoplankton, unsure of their direction as they're tossed and turned about by the oceans currents. 

I've never understood why the freshman class has always been at the entertaining end of teasing and taunting. Just from my personal high school experience, I've noticed that many of the supposed annoyances lowerclassman are known for are merely common misconceptions or fallacies upperclassmen have created in an effort to justify their monotonous jeering and jibing. For example, I've had many seniors and even juniors blame the hallway traffic on the freshmen. It's fairly obvious that the slow moving traffic jam that is a high school hallway is in no way just the freshmen class's fault. In fact, neither is most any of the other problems that upperclassman seem to blame them for. I just don't understand the thought process behind the harsh actions aimed at the freshmen. Doesn't anybody remember how badly they were treated as a Freshman? Wouldn't remembering just how degrading it felt to be a member of the bottom of the food chain be enough to spare the lowerclassman the same experience? Did it ever cross their mind it might be better to treat them as equals instead of something to eat? Apparently not.

I remember one specific firsthand incident of upperclassmen bullying very well. I was a member of the cross country team at my school. The majority of the organizations varsity team were upperclassmen, but I seemed to fit in well with the team. Things seemed to be going well, but it wasn't long before we caught the interest of our upperclassmen teammates. They were quick to move in on us, hungry for fresh meat. The bullying started out as very small tasks being forced upon us by the varsity team, things like carrying their bags and personal belongings whilst traveling to a running meet. But soon it grew to much more than the involuntary role of bell-hop. 

It was a rainy day, a few minutes before practice was to end, and the team was out on a cool down run. On top of the pouring rain that chilled me to by bones, I was tired from the days workout, and just ready to be at home standing under a hot shower. But the upperclassmen had other things planned for us freshman. We were crossing over a creek by our school, commonly referred to as 'the dam' by the team, just about five minutes into the run, when the varsity team halted the run and ordered the freshman to take off their shirts, shoes, and socks. We did as we were told until one by one each and every freshman on the team was wearing only their shorts. As we huddled together in an attempt to escape the freezing rain, I'm sure we looked as pitiful as we felt. 

We were ordered to wade into the murky, brown water of the dam. The river, now swollen from the rainstorms runoff, was known for being filled with sharp rocks and various species of snakes. Needless to say, none of us wanted to get in. But, as the older boys closed in on us, I knew we had no chance. Once we were all standing in the dark water, we were told if we wanted to truly belong to the cross country team we had to undergo a freshman initiation of sorts. They didn't hesitate in explaining the challenge. We had to fully submerge ourselves for 10 seconds, and only then would we be allowed to come out. So, one by one, we dipped our heads under the water, holding them under for 10 seconds before pulling ourselves out of the water and trudging back to shore. As you can probably imagine, the upperclassmen got quite a kick out of us freshman drag ourselves from the river and trying to climb up the muddy embankment. We slipped and slid until at last every member of the team was back on the trail. We wiped ourselves off, the seniors overseeing to ensure we rid ourselves of any muddy evidence suggesting we had done anything other than a cool down run. 

I realize that the entire ordeal may seem childish, and that I should probably just let it go and not allow it to bother me. After all, they were just trying to have fun, right? Besides, I was already wet. What's another little dip in the river? It wasn't the actual experience of getting in the nasty water that has me upset. To me it was the issue of having my agency, my freedom of choice, taken from me all because I was three grade levels lesser.

I graduated several months ago, and am no longer in high school. At a glance, it doesn't make any sense why I should still find interest in this topic. Perhaps the reason is I'm still bitter about the unfair treatment I received in my early years of schooling. Or is it that I experienced something so traumatic it is still haunting me today? Yes, I did experience bullying from upperclassman my freshman year in high school, but I also have two younger brothers, one that just ended his freshman year, and the other that will be a freshman in just about two more years. The reason I chose this topic to rant about is that I'm worried, for their sake. I want them both to have a happy high school career that will allow them to look back on those four years and have no regrets. I want them to remember what a great experience high school was, not how degrading their freshmen year was. But they can't do that if this trend continues.