Middle school can be a very confusing time. You are trying to cope with a new school, new learning material, and finding your own path socially. One of the most difficult things in middle school is finding new people to become friends with and with those friends finding your own clique that fits you.

Cliques do not have to define who you are and you don’t have to be in one either. You can be just as happy with a couple of good friends. But, for the majority of students at middle school, they are faced with the social pressure of having a group.

It can be hard to be the only one without a set group of friends. Seeing everyone else at school have a whole lunch table to themselves just because they have a clique of 13 people. It can get under your skin and you can start to question yourself and your appearance. Here is the truth, in and after college it will not matter if you had a clique you were in, or if you had one best friend. But we don’t learn that until it comes that time and we learn it first-hand experience.

In middle school, there can be a few specific cliques that every school has. Here are the types of cliques slideshow:

Gallery • 5 Photos

The message is not to stereotype but unfortunately, we do. We can break that and all come together. You shouldn’t have to be pressured into a group. You can mix up different friends and possibly create your own squad, or you can just keep it with two friends, you can choose your own path socially. Even though it might be intimidating with all of the different groups. You should be happy in middle school and as though there can be pros and cons in cliques, do what makes you happy.