“Scary Kerry,” not so scary

By David Pohlad

“Scary Kerry” got her nickname simply because of her “weird” styles and her “odd” eye for fashion. Like many students at Lane, Kerry is sometimes judged simply for dressing differently.

Scary Kerry’s real name is Kerry Skrobo, Div. 185. There are many student-fabricated rumors about Kerry, but few of them are true.

Her looks can be deceiving, however. Kerry has short pink hair, pierced cheeks, and often sports pink Doc Martin boots. Many students mistake these accessories as “punk” or “goth”. Kerry does not associate herself with either of these labels, claiming to be a subculture of her own. Punks’ or Goths’ clothing styles are normally influenced by the music they listen to. Kerry, however, is a self-described eclecticist who finds her influences in many sources rather than a single music genre.

“The music I listen to doesn’t really affect the way I present myself anymore. When I was younger I did try dressing according to the style of music I was interested in at the time. However, I came to realize it isn’t very fun dressing a certain way just to look like you belong to something.”

In fact, the music Kerry listens to is completely different from what most students would guess.

“I listen to a wide array of music. However, I don’t care much for hard rock. I especially like rap and a multitude of subgenres of electronic music. Some of my favorites include hardcore, electro, and drum-and-bass.”

An Art major, Kerry is a “creative type.” One of her favorite hobbies is sewing. She is considering fashion design as a future career.

Since there are no sewing or fashion design classes offered at Lane, Kerry takes what she considers to be the next best thing: graphic design class taught by Mr. Ara.

Like a lot of students, Kerry excels in the subjects she likes and sometimes lets other classes fall to the wayside.

“Kerry’s a good student when she cares about something. I’ve seen her in other classes though. I actually first met her in my summer school class for art,” said Mr. Ara.

In class, Kerry can be shy and reserved, or talkative and outgoing. It all depends on the person she’s talking to.

“She’s pretty quiet towards the students she doesn’t know. She talks to me though, and after she gets to know other students she’s a lot more extroverted towards them,” said Ara.

Mr. Ara has inevitably noticed Kerry’s fashion sense like everyone else.

“You can tell by her style that she’s trying to be original. Except everybody at Lane knows her as like, ‘the girl with the eyebrows’ or something.”

However, Ara admits that he too would jump to conclusions if he were a student at Lane and saw Kerry walking through the halls.

“Everyone passes judgments, I’d probably pass judgments on her if I didn’t know her. I don’t know what kind of judgments though. They’d probably be like ‘oh cool this girl is into her own thing’.”

Kerry is a walking example of why students (and even teachers) should break the habit of judging others.

“I think it’s ignorant on their part and rather sad that they’d decide how they feel about a person without even talking to them,” said Kerry.

Kerry is also a reminder that there is no reason for all high schoolers to dress so similarly.

“Society plays a role in the way high schoolers dress, and not just for those trying to fit the ‘popular teen model’. For nearly any stereotype that teens emulate there’s a store that caters to each, be it Hot Topic for the ‘goths’ or Hollister for the ‘preps’ or Urban Outfitters for the ‘hipsters’. I think that people that try to fit that model are wasting their time trying to please others and need to get in touch with they really want to be doing.”

Although Kerry gets plenty of stares and is judged by fellow students, she has come to embrace her own sense of style and believes that others should follow in their own footsteps of fashion.