Student realizations: jumping to conclusions

Taylor D’AndreaEditor-in-Chief                                                                                                                                                                                                      My initial reaction was wrong, and I’ll admit it.As soon as school started, they were there, always in uniform, staring intensely at me. Everywhere I went, no matter the teacher or building, hallway or office, they were there. The posters baring photos of this year’s star varsity football players were ubiquitous.I’m sure that everyone has seen these glossy, expensive-looking posters, complete with a full list of the season’s games. However, it is difficult to overlook the central focus of these posters: the senior football players themselves.Now, don’t get me wrong, these boys are by no measure uninteresting to look at. But at first, seeing a student’s picture on a poster was jarring; school-related groups rarely use students’ faces as a marketing technique.I was immediately furious. Think of the types of people we usually see on posters: actors, models and professional musicians to name a few. These posters are often made because the subject of the poster is a role model. The audience often looks up to or idolizes the subject, and it is generally accepted that the subject is worthy of being looked up to.I believed that, by putting students’ faces on these posters, the football program was trying to say that their players should be idolized by other students, more so than students who are involved in other activities.What spurred my initial anger was my frustration with sports celebrities in general. More people look up to Kobe Bryant than the noted journalist Christiane Amanpour, and for me (a devoted fan of Amanpour) that is upsetting. This trend represents a larger truth about society; sports are often placed on a pedastol, while well-deserved acknowledgements in academics or the arts are often looked over. I took this as just another way that a sports team was being favored.Then I heard the real reason the posters were up:“I wanted to try to bring some awareness to the program in a fun way, and I wanted to do something nice for the seniors since it’s their last season,” football coach Travis Clark said. “I want us to take this year one minute at a time, because I know how fast it goes. I thought this would be a good idea to get the community aware of the games,” Clark explained.Coach Clark took money out of his own pocket to honor the seniors with these posters, because he wanted them to be proud of all they have accomplished. It must be nice to walk by your poster on the wall and know that you earned that, you worked hard for three years in order to make it here.After speaking to him, I realized these posters were not a ploy by the football team to assert their dominance over the school’s social scene. On the contrary, they were merely a new (and albeit foreign to me) way to promote their season.Now, every time I pass one of these posters, I just accept them. I no longer feel the need to launch into a discussion of high school social politics.The realization that these posters aren’t a negative thing won’t suddenly cause me to be an avid supporter of the football program, or to immediately join Blue Crew and become school spirited. But I know that in the future, I will take my time before jumping to conclusions or acting on my prejudices.Thus far, no other sports or programs have posted such advertisements around campus. It’s possible that they haven’t been given the chance yet or have not thought about this way of bringing in new support.So before one is quick to judge, take a step back and look at the whole picture. Samo is a network of people — students, teachers and faculty — relying on each others’ support to accomplish a goal. For Samo students to excel, they need this support and more, especially from their peers. What they do not need are haters.tdandrea@thesamohi.com