7 Ways to Shake up Your Reputation in High School ...

1. Figure out Who You Are

First thing’s first if you want to shake up your reputation in high school; you need to figure out who you are. Are you really the sporty, jock your peers labeled you as Freshman year? Or is there much more to you than that? I’m sure that you have layers, and you know that you do too, but if you want other people to notice that there’s more to you than their labels, you need to first figure out who you are. Then, the real fun begins!

2. Change Your Hair

If you’ve worn your hair in a ponytail every day for the past three years, one surefire way to shake up your reputation is to change your hair! I’ve never understood why, but for some reason people seem to identify teenage girls by their hair. She’s sporty, she’s a nerd, she’s... The list goes on. If you really want to shake things up, chop off your long locks, dye them or simply get layers or bangs. Any of these actions will come off as an act of defiance, even if no one says it outright, they’ll be thinking it.

3. Mix up Your Style

Skinny jeans, a t-shirt, and converse were cute... until you wore them every day of Freshman year. Now it’s time to mix things up with your clothing style, if you really want to take your peers by surprise. Your clothes are the simplest way to express who you are inside without saying anything at all. If no one has ever seen your bare legs except for in running shorts, slip on a mini skirt and watch the reactions you get! All that matters is that you feel comfortable in what you’re wearing, and that your clothing choices reflect who you are inside. Once you do that, your reputation will be rewritten in a matter of seconds.

4. Make New Friends

Don’t ditch your friends, but make new ones and add them to your group of current friends. We’ve seen in high school movies that when the queen bee befriends the nerd all Hell breaks loose, but don’t worry, you won’t start any riots or upset the balance of nature by befriending someone outside of your clique. But making new friends will mean a slight change in the way people perceive you. Your peers will assume that you have something in common with your new friends, and in the process of trying to figure out what it is, forge a new identity for you!

5. Join a New Sport or Club

If you’re the star of your school’s volleyball team, but want to be known for your mental strength, join the mathletes or speech and debate team. Show your classmates what you’re made of by winning as many academic competitions as you win volleyball tournaments. How can your reputation remain stagnant when you do something no one ever anticipated? The same goes for the scholars and bookworms out there; if you join a sport you enjoy, no one will have seen it coming, and your reputation will change in a flash!

6. Kick Old Habits to the Curb

Maybe you have a bad reputation, the result of some nasty things you did in the past. But if people see that you’ve kicked your old habits to the curb, they may be willing to forgive and forget. In the end you’ll have a clean slate, and you can rebuild your reputation by demonstrating what a kind individual you are.

7. Be Yourself

Whoever you are, the jock, the nerd, the socialite, or the do-gooder, be yourself. Because, really we’re all just a jumble of every personality type out there. When you are yourself, people see that there’s more to you than meets the eye, and you’re sure to shake up that inaccurate reputation you can’t seem to get rid of. Don’t try to be anything you’re not and don’t hold back, because being yourself will get you exactly the reputation you deserve.

At some point in our lives, most of us have wanted to start over and rebuild our reputation from the ground up. In high school that can be pretty tricky, because you’re with the same people year after year. But if you follow these simple tips to shake up your reputation, you may just get that fresh start you’ve been waiting for! How do you plan on shaking up your reputation?