If you were back in high school, would you be the band kid or the jock? The theater nerd or the academic overachiever? High school cliques may have changed since the neatly drawn stereotypes in flicks like The Breakfast Club, but Enneagram types have not. Where you might have landed in the social hierarchy will definitely be influenced by your Enneagram type...so here's our prediction!
Type One: The Band Kids
Type Ones are the quintessential responsible teenagers — the kind that makes parents happy and teachers proud. Your loyalty and attention to detail would have made you a great band kid in the broadest sense, whether you preferred marching band, orchestra or color guard.
Band kids are all friends with each other, and also held in awe for their ability to sacrifice regular teenage fun so they can practice for hours each day. At my school, every band kid missed homecoming for a competition. That's you, Type One—dutiful to the greater purpose.
Type Two: The Theater Kids
Type Twos are community-oriented. For better or worse, your day is often made or broken by social dynamics and who opens up to you with their deep, dark secrets. Your ability to happily exist alongside others would have made you a poster theater kid/ choir kid/ a capella group member/ script writer, even after the group turned toxic and everyone barely pretended to like each other.
If performance wasn't your thing, you probably dated the theater kid and hung out with their friends. These people often combined to form one mega-group, as school plays are a breeding ground for gossip.
Type Three: The Overachievers
Type Three students are every teacher's dream. Even if they're not naturally good at school, they study hard enough to compensate. Because of your competitive nature, you were likely an overachiever—a force of nature who joined every club and aced every exam. And like a true Type Three, you spoke about your grades and achievements openly, intimidating everyone else.
You had a LinkedIn page by age 12. Class President on your high school bucket list. An internship booked for every summer. By the end of high school, you likely popped out with a Stanford acceptance and a plan for world domination.
Type Four: The Hipster Journalism Kids
Type Fours are harder to peg in a specific clique because they're usually too busy telling everyone how different and misunderstood they are. It's a safe bet though, that you would have landed somewhere unconventional or artsy, like the school newspaper.
As a reporter, you took your journalistic integrity very seriously, worked late nights, and lived in the newsroom during deadline week. You had a way of seeing the world in a unique and insightful manner, making your articles standout from the rest. We're guessing that you’re still friends with one of your editors—a bond built through creativity isn't easily broken.
Type Five: The Academic Decathlon Kids
Academic decathlon requires two things from its participants: a near-genius IQ and lots of free time. Fortunately, Type Five teenagers usually have both of these things. Your interest in how things work (that math equation that everyone else memorizes blindly; creationist theories besides the Big Bang) made you incredibly smart, but not studious enough to make your classes a big priority.Abd who has the energy for friends?
After acing the decathlon team's entrance exam, you spent hours each day studying big packets of material with the other AcDec kids—surprising the rest of the school with your close-knit friendships and your national ranking.
Type Six: The Jocks
There have always been, and will always be, kids who are scarily good at their sport. Known for their commitment and consistency, Type Six teenagers usually end up in this category. These kids show up early to practice, put in extra work, and often play through an injury because they’re convinced their entire worth is wrapped up in how well they do on the field or court.
Through consistent self-sacrifice, you likely moved from captain of the JV team in freshman year to the captain of Varsity. You committed to a D1 school by the end of junior year, and nobody really heard from you after high school except through college sports coverage.
Type Seven: The Popular Kids
While the idea of “popularity” is dying out in American high schools, there's always a group of students who live the ideal movie high school experience. This group is usually dominated by Type Sevens.
Type Seven teenagers are carefree and open, preferring to live in the moment rather than dwell on uncomfortable thoughts. They gravitate towards like minded peers, hang out at each other’s houses, and are in the school's honor societies or low-commitment sports. Their penchant for fun means that they will do well socially at college – Greek life almost guaranteed.
Type Eight: The Angsty Loners
While Type Eight teenagers usually have no problem making friends, they have the general aesthetic of angsty loners—think Heath Ledger from 10 Things I Hate About You. They'll meet other kindred spirits in orchestra or ceramics class, but hold on to their individual side interests, the more intense and offbeat, the better.
Members will come and go in this clique since Eights have no issue removing problematic people from their group. There will probably be a lot of taking sides. All in all, these kids are usually remembered by their classmates as “super cool”.
Type Nine: The Student Council Kids
The student council kids consist of the bubbly girls who run the high school student council like it’s the navy, and their boyfriends in pastel polos. They go all out for Spirit Day and will post for every Senior Sunday. They bond with everyone and never leave a person out.
Type Nines teenagers can struggle with people-pleasing, but also approach relationships with such pure intentions that student council is the perfect space for them. As friends, they're hard to get over, since Nines are naturally empathetic and good listeners. They'll probably be at your wedding.
