Achieving the best social experience at the University of Miami can only be accomplished by squeezing your way into the right clique.
Without a clique, you slowly become aimless, just another lonely undergrad taking up precious parking spaces. No right-minded person would leave his or her room without first checking when everyone else in their clique will be showing up to the pregame.
No one goes to the Grove to talk and meet new people! That is just shameless! Classmates stay classmates, and people trying to raise awareness for their organizations in the breezeway just receive countless annoyed faces. I watch students in Random Acts of Kindness get shot down one after another trying to give away free hugs and high-fives! Why is this school so bent on everyone minding their own business?
When you show up to a club or party, you arrive with your friends. When you go and eat in the food court, you eat with your clique because God forbid you are that one person sitting alone and eating quietly!
What happens to those students who have a tougher time meeting new people? Students who transfer late in their academic career are also at a loss. These clique-less people have to invade an already formed clique and try desperately to earn their spot. Is this just because Miami is a private school? Is it that some students’ socioeconomic status makes them feel more privileged? Or is it that students nowadays would rather get to know someone on Facebook after they’ve successfully stalked all of your thousands of pictures?
Not working to reach out to new people, the continued decay of interest in school-spirited activities and the lack of befriending classmates has become a bad habit with students here. It has become a taboo to be friendly on the University of Miami campus. The answer to why the school is so cliquey is simply because we have created this environment ourselves.
We have the power to change the negative atmosphere surrounding this subject!
So next time you’re sitting by the fountain next to the Learning Center or walking on those winding pathways trying to avoid any and all eye contact with strangers, turn around and introduce yourself. Be friendly, go smile and bring forth a more positive aura on this campus! You may meet a new friend. Change starts with you. Encourage others to break this ‘clique epidemic’ that has been plaguing our campus for years! Let us create a better school experience for future generations to come!
Matt Rosen may be contacted at mrosen@themiamihurricane.com.