The following article was featured in our fall print issue. Print copies can be accessed in the media center or your English classroom.

“Tree people” is a well-known nickname at Seminole High School given to those who sit at the benches nearest to the library. Their name comes from the fact that they sit under the large oak trees, and it has inexplicably become a central part of SHS vocabulary. However, not many realize that the people they generalize with this nickname have their own backgrounds and stories that are worth hearing.

Many students stereotype tree people as those who wear tails or cat ears, and are generally obsessed with anime. Any who are “weird” and, therefore, different from the rest are categorized as tree people by the general population of SHS.

“[They] are kind of weird, and they hang around the trees. They do crazy stuff over there. I saw some who were wearing tails one year,” said an anonymous interviewee.

These so-called tree people, however, maintain their own definition of the term. To some, it’s simply a matter of fact that their tight-knit group shares a great deal in common, even if they don’t share much with the rest of the school.

“[We are] just a group of nerdy people coming together and being friends,” said junior Christian Johnson.

However, other tree people share a different sentiment towards the label. Like many at the school, they consider the term to be deprecatory and discriminatory.

“I do see the term as negative. When I was labeled as a ‘tree person’ I was extremely unhappy because I consider the tree people to be the weird kids that run around wearing tails,” said sophomore Eva Dillon.

Others do not see it as a negative term, and even embrace it.

“I do not view ‘tree people’ as a negative term. I even seem to label myself as a ‘tree-person,” said senior Shayla Houck, “We just gather together to eat and enjoy each other’s company.”

Those labeled as tree people, like Houck, are not as weird as the people of SHS make them out to be. Everyone has their own quirks and it all comes together to make their personality. If everyone looked and acted the same, then it would be a very mundane world.

“Tree people have their own personalities and beliefs, in my opinion, they can be who they want to be,” said junior Stephanie Ramirez

Students of SHS should remember that even though those they label as tree people may look weird from the outside, all they want to be is themselves and to be a part of something bigger.

“We are nothing more than friends who just want to be accepted,” said Houck.