Diary of a Gen Z Student: There's the jocks, the nerds, the drama kids... the college society you join can tell a lot

To my great disappointment, none of the GAA players look quite like Paul Mescal in their micro mini GAA shorts and silver chain necklaces

Trinity College student Jane Cowan photographed at her home in Dunshaughlin, County Meath. Picture: Barry Cronin

I remember walking into my first day of secondary school. Past the convoy of school buses parked outside, through the automatic doors beside reception, into the main assembly hall, my 12-year-old self, about to tip backwards with the weight of my school bag, bursting at the seams. 

Then, surveying my peers, I took note of all the cliques. The sporty ones passing around a basketball, the emos swapping eyeliner and avoiding the sun, the musicians running their hands through their hair, debating if they’re a Lennon or a McCartney, and the nerdy ones worrying about whether they’ve remembered a spare battery for their calculator. I was part of the latter cohort, if you hadn’t already put that together. It’s the same thing in schools across the country. We slot ourselves into these categories at rapid speed, adopting the character traits that come with it.