Can someone please criticize my essay?

My days in high school were not spent concerned over who was going to homecoming or who was dating the captain of the football team. I never considered myself to be a popular kid, nor did I ever seek to be one. Popularity to me wasn’t something gained by being “cool”, instead I viewed popularity as a label given to others by kids with a poor self-image. Popularity in high school is foolish and unfortunately we don’t find out until we have left. Every high school has its trends and social groups, but who ever thought that they would continue to haunt us well past throwing up our caps, saying goodbye to a dreaded hell hole?

Life has its ways of dividing us; income, race, sex, and religion just to name a few, and no place better is this division portrayed than in high school. High school is full of its social groups, and cliques, made by students to create a sense of belonging. I could try to explain to you the meaning of segregation, but not until you experience it firsthand will you truly understand its definition. When you think of segregation you most likely wouldn’t think of high school, which would make sense considering most view segregation as something left in the past. A walk down a cafeteria led me to understand the full extent of segregation. Something as simple as eating lunch could be seen. If you were white you ate at that table, if you were black you ate over there, and the rich and poor don’t associate with each other. Trying so desperately to fit in, these social groups lead kids to lose their identity. Students go through high school drawn to the evil that is popularity a reflection of segregation, only to forget they are in a school, a school full of students, students wanting to learn.