The hallways of Woodland are crowded with people who look either ‘ready to work’ or ‘ready to leave’, these attitudes are showcased through clothing.
Waking up in the morning isn’t easy. Being motivated to dress as if caring is important can be hard because it’s just school, right? The outfit that is decided on when the alarm clock rings, fluctuates the emotions that roll through students heads in the 6 hours that school drags on.
In 2015, Waterbury high schools and middle schools decided to choose uniforms for students in their schools and they have actually witnessed an increase SAT scores. According to Wilby High School’s dress code policy, Waterbury Schools first put this rule into effect when they decided that they needed to further the importance of education and stop worrying about fashion and style. In New Britain, it also seems that they had made changes last year. According to NBC News, the Superintendent said that they plan to issue uniforms to students. So this way, kids transferring into the school are wearing the same thing as everyone else and diversity issues are alleviated.
At this point, a question being asked might be how uniforms relate to Woodland in any way. Well, here’s where the dots connect. Everyone is different and that can be seen in the way that students choose to dress. Every day is a new look and as the classrooms fill, it can be noticed that those diverse people become part of certain categories. For example, ‘the tired ones’ or ‘the ones ready for a business meeting’. Every one of these traits corresponds to a type of outfit. The ‘tired ones’ can be seen wearing sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt, whereas the other types can be dressed in anything from heels and jeans to dressy, fitted tops. But don’t take a reporter’s word for it. Listen to fellow classmates instead.
“If you are wearing something that you picked out, you are using the more creative part of your brain and in the morning this will make you feel more expressive in how you conduct work,” explains freshman Jake Veillette. “If you’re more uniformed you’ll get bored since you’re not being expressive.”
Gianna Colon, freshman, also noted that clothes might have an influence on behavior or at least mental state.
“I do feel like the clothes I wear in school affect how I act in class,” says Colon, “because if I’m wearing pajamas, I will feel very tired, but say that I’m wearing jeans and a comfy sweatshirt I will feel comfortable. If I decided to wear leggings and a t-shirt, I feel happy and more ready-to-work.”
Students are not the only ones affected by their wardrobe choices; Mr. Ogren also feels the impact different outfits have on his performance.
“I do look forward to casual black and gold Fridays which are wonderful,” Mr. Ogren shares, “but I always wear a shirt and tie. I think that it’s good to dress professionally because I am trying to showcase a good image when I go to meetings with other schools.”
While majority can say that what is worn will affect your performance in school, some may say it doesn’t. Either way, clothing is an expressive part of every student and it can exhibit the type of person that someone is. The next time you wake up from an obnoxious alarm clock, remember that the time you went to bed last night isn’t the only factor to your daily emotions.
