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Can We Make A Change?

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Can We Make a Change?
Adults and peers at my high school all had expectations of me. One expectation they had of me was to be less than “the best”. A very ironic expectation for one to place on another, especially in a school setting. Then one day I exceeded that expectation. I was told I would be the valedictorian along with my best friend, because we both had 4.0 GPA’s. I thought I had finally exceeded the expectation other people had of me. Those who wanted to limit me, couldn’t fathom the idea of me being the best. They lashed out. Following that I received some depressing news, which was the Lee County Board of Education would only allow for each school to have one valedictorian. From this experience I learned not to allow anyone’s opinion or expectation to limit me in any way. Too often we are expected to be a certain way and fall short of those expectations. When we fall short we are belittled for being who we are. Media often exemplifies this very issue in many forms. Mean Girls, The Help, and “Pretty Hurts” are portrayals of how the influence of worldly expectations has caused discrimination in the American society.
One movie that vividly depicts how cruel teenage girls can be to other peers for not meeting their expectations is Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters. Released in 2004, the film relates the life of Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) as she attends public school for the first time. She meets two friends Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese) who
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