Snippets from a typical Saturday dialogue with friends: “Is there anything to do tonight?” “Where do you want to go?” “There’s never anything to do!” A few hours of meaningless texts later, plans are set for dinner. Unfortunately, it’s our sixth visit to the restaurant. This month.
This is an example of the Hockabubble extending beyond 11600 Welch Road. Many students feel this obstacle restricts and isolates them from the outside world. It causes some of us to stay within one area of Dallas, to only explore a three-mile radius, to only eat at the same 10 restaurants no further than 10 minutes away.
Some say that it prevents us from experiencing the society around us, but is it really a just a barrier we self-impose to excuse our lack of knowledge? Does it even exist?
We aren’t so sure. Maybe we aren’t separated to the extent that we think we are. Our school is a thriving and close-knit community. Obviously, spending up to 10 hours a day together leads to a strong, shared connection. However, we cannot allow this cocoon to contain us; we must break the bubble that restricts us.
We blame stress and our busy schedules when our knowledge of the world’s current affairs falls short. Here we create a ruse of a barrier to justify our naiveté. Obviously, some barrier is there, but we enlarge, exaggerate and impose it on ourselves because it’s just easier.
It’s easier to stay in the same routine, to never leave the confines of Preston Hollow or Highland Park, to avoid watching the news or reading the newspaper because you have too much homework (or need to catch up on the newest pictures on Facebook).
This ignorance can be isolating, but we cannot let it separate us from the greater community. It is worth the effort to break the bubble. We believe that Hockaday students are offered more opportunities to reach out and affect the community, as well as be affected by the community.
It’s as little as our Environmental Awareness Club, having Carpool Days or river clean-ups. Or our Human Rights Committee choosing to forgo sweatshirts made in sweat shops. We do things at our high school that do good for the greater community, sometimes without realizing it.
But it’s not just about doing good. We as students have to get involved in our community and put ourselves out there. Even if you don’t leave the physical Hockabubble, you can break it by doing something as simple as riding your bike to school. The Hockabubble imprints a mindset on us that from the moment you turn 16, you should have a car and drive it to school every day for the next two years. Break this lifestyle, go against the mindset that is imposed by the Hockabubble.
As students, we must do our best to fully immerse ourselves in the opportunities around us. Eat at new restaurants, go see a play at the Arts District, or volunteer at a new organization for community service. Just avoid that one thing you’ve been doing for what seems like the last 30 weekends. You never know, you might find a new favorite area, or food or organization.
Step out of the boundaries that we create for ourselves to help reduce the stress that has been building for the last week.
There’s a world around us outside of our Hockaday jade-shaded version of the Emerald city, sometimes we just have to take off our green-tinted glasses and experience it for ourselves.
-Megan
