The start of the New Trier football season also marks the launch of the 2017 Green Team. That means tailgating, loud student sections, and a plethora of creative and memorable nicknames.

However, lost amidst all this is the true message of Green Team: to be a team.

Just recently I attended a football tailgate in which I had to leave early. While I was enjoying my time with friends, I realized that though everyone there was there for the same reason, everyone had naturally gathered into their respective friend groups.

As I was driving away, I couldn’t help but be struck by the few students who were on the edges of the tailgate feeling uncomfortable, like they couldn’t walk up to the big group of students.

The Green Team Facebook page has also proven to be highly problematic. In the past week, the page has become regulated by the Green Team captains, causing every post and every comment to have to be approved by a select few students.

In response, a group of students have created an alternative page for the grade to post without regulation.

This clear split between the grade is not just a reflection on the current state of Green Team, but a reflection of the grade as a whole.

Though everyone in the senior class is welcomed to attend tailgates and nearly all of them have Green Team sweatshirts, it’s very clear that there is a social hierarchy that has been created within the group.

Despite the 806 members in the Facebook page, it seems that only a dozen people actually feel comfortable enough to post.

Green Team is supposed to bring the senior class together as a whole to enjoy the last year of high school as we all prepare to embark on the next stage of our lives. Sadly, it seems to be doing just the opposite.

If you go to any of the Green Team events or log onto the Team’s Facebook page, you’ll see divided groups and snarky comments.

While some may find it funny to observe from the sidelines and are comfortable with not doing anything about it, it’s a shame that we seem to be turning a blind eye to the notion that in the end we are, in fact, a “team.”

While it is also true that in our senior year we should spend time with the people we really care about before we all have to leave, why not try and embrace the idea that we should branch out and meet new people that we may not ever see again after we graduate?

The graduating Class of 2017 only has nine months left to make it count. We can chose to play it safe and continue with how everything is now. Or we can chose to explore everything high school has to offer.

High school is hard, in every sense of the word. High school challenges us in ways we never thought possible before we entered the Northfield campus four years ago.

Each and every student has changed in one way or another, and though it may feel like this is the end, and like we can’t grow anymore, this is only the beginning.

We will grow and change every day for the rest of our lives, and during this final year of high school we should continue to grow and change together.