The Deerfield Boy and the Deerfield Girl embody the traditions that Deerfield as a whole embraces, and they exemplify the students we wish to have represent us. However, Deerfield is a competitive place where one can easily surrender themselves to the crowd.
This year, I live on a hall with 13 very diverse girls, and I am not just talking about international students and different ethnicities. They each have different likes and dislikes, but I would consider all of them to be Deerfield Girls.
In Connect Four we talked about what we thought the Deerfield Girl and the Deerfield Boy meant, and we got a mix of responses. The stereotype of the Deerfield Girl wore Jack Rogers and a Barbour coat, and it was said that she had to be pretty, athletic, wealthy and socially adept. The stereotype of the Deerfield Boy also wore expensive brands and had to be handsome, muscular, funny and athletic.
However, we concluded that it is not about what you wear, how much money you have or how you look, but rather the ideals and values you stand behind.
The stereotype of the Deerfield Boy and Girl is not what Deerfield is all about. It is evident that people change when they come to Deerfield, and that is expected. However, some people have a tendency to follow the crowd.
“When I came here, I was lost in a sea of similar people in the same brands. It was hard to find those few people that stood out,” Cindy Lopez ’16 said.
I would prefer to call our symbols the Deerfield Boys and the Deerfield Girls, because our symbol doesn’t just represent one kind of person. I think one has to be able to stay true to himself or herself throughout his or her whole experience here to be considered a Deerfield Girl or Deerfield Boy.
We live in a community where people tend to conform to what everyone else thinks and does. But if you are ambitious, fun, smart, humble, kind and loyal, I don’t see why you can’t be the epitome of the Deerfield Girl or Boy.