s my real lifestyle. Before I knew it I felt eyes from all directions casting judgements upon me. I began to smile comprehending a little more about perception of others, but I learned even more when my friend Katie introduced me to new acquaintances. When meeting attractive girls, most guys tend to attempt to look their very best. With my normal testing outfit I gained my uneasy looks from Katie?s friends and soon they had formed opinions of me?one of which was their romantic disinterest in me. They began to better accept me, though as I conversed with them more, yet never anything more than acceptance. Later that night, I decided to put my contacts in for the first time in three days and I soon realized the effect of appearance. For the first time, the girls were attracted to me because of my appearance and to them I replied to their stares with ?I?m not as ugly as you first thought, huh?? With these experiences I began to see first hand how people judge others and place people into schemas. After these encounters, I thought back to when I first arrived here at Catawba College, and the many assumptions I made of people that, in fact, turned out to be false.To the naked eye, my friend Larry seems to be a weird homosexual male into drama and musical theatre, but after one early morning session at the computer lab I began to realize that Larry is a funny and enjoyable fellow. Here I passed judgement on others before getting to know them, much like my first impression of my good friend Heath. Heath seemed to be a dumb male with his Beavis and Butthead type laugh and his testostoronic voice. I began to know, though, that Heath is not only a smart individual, with his sat score of 1480, but also a talented singer and lacrosse player where I first thought of him as clumsy and stupid. Stupidity is a common label people tend to place others.Stephen, a recent friend of mine, appeared by his diction, attitude, and demeanor to be a person...
