Is there more to you than meets the eye?

Or are you the epitome of your stereotype?

This past weekend, a friend and I ventured to Kansas City to attend a horse show management seminar. At the two-day event, we learned how to run a horse show more efficiently; everything from rule changes to which judge to hire to what to do if a horse died in the middle of a class.

There were fellow horse enthusiasts there from all over the Midwest, and we all shared ideas and experiences in the hopes of improving our industry as a whole. One of the main topics of discussion was how to attract new exhibitors to our events.

The main issue we decided keeps the new people away is how they perceive our events. Horse shows are perceived all-too-often as snooty, exclusive events in which only the rich can truly compete.

While that may be true for some events, the general consensus was that the stereotype had spread to cover almost all equestrian events, and that’s certainly not the case. But, the image remains, and it will be a hard task to tear down that false wall.

The issue of perception was brought up several more times throughout the weekend, and it was a topic of several discussions even outside the event.

Indeed, how we perceive things (and people) is an issue that everyone needs to deal with.

Generally, people will categorize us according to how we act. Are we messier than hogs or neat almost to the point of being anal? When we go to a meeting or work, are we there with time to spare or the last one in the door, ten minutes late? Are we a leader or a follower? Characteristics like these are the easiest ways to give off an image, and generally images like these are true.

Unfortunately, people also have perceptions about you that have nothing to do with the number of socks on your floor or how many meetings you miss. By falling into a certain category, you may have been given a stereotype that doesn’t apply to you, but that you have no control over. Where you are from is a biggie. How many of you have ever cracked a joke about “them inbred Missourians?” What about the body hair of Minnesota women? The workaholic nature of Asians? As much as we hate to admit it, our perceptions of people tend to be shaped by where they call “home.”

Different colleges also carry with them different perceptions. The age-old stereotype of nerdy engineering students with pocket protectors and thick glasses is as widespread as the image of the purple-haired, psycho-alternative, “misunderstood” art student. And of course, there’s my personal favorite, “ag students really, REALLY like their sheep.”

No discussion about college students would be complete without mentioning the greeks. I don’t think there’s a group out there that has more images to live down. From the falling-down drunks to buying your friends, to running the school, there are a multitude of ways our letter-wearing peers are perceived.

Sometimes, the way people are perceived is the way they really are. Then again, they aren’t the only ones who would fall into that category. There ARE some hicks from Missouri, but I’ve met some Iowans who would get roles on Hee-Haw pretty fast, too. Some art students have what I’d consider strange appearances, but I know an aspiring veterinarian with hints of pink in her hair.

It’s impossible to fit a large group of people into one specific category. For that matter, I don’t think I could find two people on this campus who are perfect matches. Everyone is different, even if it’s just in the tiniest way. And so it’s unfair for people to be perceived as a certain type just because they wear boots or have nose rings or live in a different state.

I think that people everywhere need to work on their “depth perception” — their ability to see beyond the outer shell, and to get a real image of the person inside.

The “Golden Rule” says you are to “treat others as you would have them treat you.” How you treat someone is a direct result of how you perceive them. Next time you go to tell a stereotypical joke about someone, think about the categories you fall into, and how many jokes people could make about you.

Maybe you DO fall into a stereotype; that of a narrow-minded fool.

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Holly Benton is a sophomore in animal science from Early.