Duality

High school students are usually told to find out who they are and make decisions based on their answer. But what if teens simply cannot know who they are? With authority figures and peers constantly judging teens, they must continuously be changing themselves to please one group to the next. Young adults struggle to discover who they really are with all the pressure of being some one that others expect them to be.

            Alice Richmond had always been told she was mature for her age. As she progressed through high school, she couldn’t help but notice that she was always fighting with herself when making decisions on how to act or what to say when she was around certain people. Around her friends, Alice felt out of the group and didn’t care for the juvenile way her peers acted. After landing a job as director for a middle school play, Alice started to wonder if she could maintain her friends. They expected her to conform to their way of life – drinking, doing drugs, and simply just acting immature. Alice found herself feeling more alone than ever when she declined requests to join her so-called “friends.”

Brushing it aside, Alice focused on the play and the kids involved. She was the figure that the kids in the show looked up to. Alice was there for them and knew that if she acted the way her peers do, she would never be asked back to direct another play. All the production meetings, rehearsals, and talks with parents made Alice realize who she really was. She wasn’t just some stupid high school student that society frowns upon; she was doing what she loved and excelling in it.

Still, Alice dreaded going to school each day – the rude comments said behind her back were hard to ignore and she could never quite fit in with any clique. At times, Alice found herself being someone who she was not just to be around people her age and feel somewhat accepted.

Teens like Alice mask themselves around their peers. The pressure of conforming to society makes those teens feel as if they are constantly shifting between the comedy and tragedy masks of theatre (also called the duality of Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of theatre). The hardships that those young adults go through in high school should be noted, and those students should find a place where they are comfortable with whom they are. By doing something they love and that they are passionate about, the pressure of high school will slowly ease over time and sooner or later, they will be out of there and already have their future goals set around the people with whom they can be themselves with.