High school is a place of all kinds of ages, personalities, hobbies, etc. but this sea of diversity all boils down to what goes on inside the classroom. Just like social clicks made by different types of people, the classroom entails different types of students: the not so bright kid, the effortless child, and the studious teen. These students differ in their behaviors and attitudes regarding their courses and each play a role in the quiet chaos that is the classroom. Is it wrong to divide the complexity of human behavior into such blunt labels? I say no sir. I deem it necessary as different people are dealt with in unique ways.

The not so bright kid
Regrettably, there are those high schoolers who just don’t get it…no matter how hard they try, success eludes them. It is quite a harsh thing to state and may sound arrogant but I believe it to be true. They may be sweet as a daisy, saying hello to the teacher, always offering to help, but when it comes to the subject itself they are thrown into a pit of despair from which their personality cannot save them. It is easy to let their clean penmanship and organized multicolored binders deceive one into thinking they are academically well off. One must look past the façade they put on (usually unintentionally) because even sweet little Emily who is so captivated by the material is liable to spout off a remark along the lines of, “Wait, so who’s Ben Franklin again?” I cannot say for sure if these students are aware of their lack of intelligence or not, one would question if it would be sensible to continue to try if the effort is never enough. What I can say is that despite good morals and a reverence for school students like Emily are met with a mental block somewhere. Had school been based off of effort they would be maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

Effortless Child
The most vexing type of student, in my opinion, is the one who doesn’t try. Lack of effort doesn’t necessarily mean lack of intelligence however it does mean lack of performance. These students refuse to open their minds to learning, they seem to believe that the subject material doesn’t need to be paid any mind. This type of student will scarcely do any type of work wether it be classwork or homework and they will encourage others to do the same in the process which is why you never want these people in your group for class work. Their classic move is to sit back, make a joke about not knowing anything, and then leave you to all the stress. In contrast with this however these students will usually do the projects and essays but with minimal effort. Usually, a student such as is this is born from ego, (as indicating earlier in the paragraph with believing that they don’t need to pay attention to the material) the student at hand believes the other parts of their lives to be above education and thinks it to be uncool to try. It does not make these students happy to be corrected, their usual response to criticism is an insult or annoying joke. They don’t recognize the impact high school has on their future and have the audacity to scoff at the teacher. However in some instances this type of student can be created from a sheer scarcity of will resulting in said student giving up on school and having a more pathetic attitude. In this case the student still jokes about not knowing anything but without the scoffing at students who try.

Studious Teen
Atlas, with reverence a hero appears amongst the crowd, a student not drawn in by the temptation to “just live it up man.” This is a student who will take the initiative to get the job they are assigned done, they are not thwarted off by the many trials and tribulations of their adolescent years in school, in short they never give up. They create in themselves a desire to know what is to happen in class and as a result will enter the classroom prepared both physically and mentally. As one could probably infer they don’t let their minds wander to other inferior things while they are being taught by both the teacher and potentially by other students. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are sitting at the position of attention all day with tunnel vision and ears tuned only to the frequency of all things school, it just means that even if they do talk to their friends or crack a joke here or there that they will still make sure they still manage to understand the material and complete their work. The greatest common factor amongst all studious teens is work ethic, although they are generally gifted with intelligence they all must endure a grind to attain the grades they want. In keeping with the high expectations these students have set for themselves you’ll mostly find these students in AP and Honors classes.

Alas, not all can be the Studious Teen for what kind of creepy utopia would this be if that was the case. Of course I would be a fool to not encourage all to be successful in school, in the end we want skilled young men and women in the world. However nonetheless the other types of students have large influence in shaping the high school experience and in adding to its diversity. One may find his or herself amongst any of these student types or in subgroups of them. The smart kid isn’t necessarily always bound to the studious teens nor a not so bright kid to others like them. It is possible to find a role with anyone in high school and so despite academic prowess we can find ourselves changing even the most unexpected of scholastic lives.