Ask the average American person between the ages of 14 and 21 to picture the coolest person he or she can think of. Chances are, that person is not going to be white.

Last Tuesday two Garfield High School students appeared on a news blitz in spirit day "Country Club" attire. The general feeling about that on the part of the two students was one of good-natured embarrassment. They claimed to have looked like they, and I quote, "belonged in Bellevue."

We don't actually believe that Bellevue students wear argyle sweaters and polos everyday, but it can't be denied that the percentage of black students in Bellevue is significantly lower than the percentage of black students attending Garfield. (The impact of Asian culture on American society is relatively much lower than the impact made by black culture (i.e. R&B, Hip Hop, jazz and everything related) therefore the presence, or lack thereof, of Asian students never seems to be a heated issue - at least that's my reasoning.)

You see, we do things a little differently at Garfield. The school serves as a not-so-subtle cultural mixing pot. We aren't necessarily "ghetto" as everyone assumes, but we are certainly far removed from the typical white-bread society. Hip Hop, or black, culture is completely natural here. The majority of students are into it to some degree and those who aren't at least don't consider it alien or intimidating.

There is an air, or a cool, about being outside the frameworks of the so-called rich, white society - and not just at Garfield. Not very often do you hear someone being called "white" in a flattering manner. The closest you will get is something along the lines of a teasing "Aww...you're sooo white." More often teenagers jokingly renounce their Caucasian status in lieu of being thought of as an honorary black or an honorary Asian. Even those people of European descent trace back their roots and claim connections to the "less American" cultures such as French, Italian and Spanish. People, such as a couple of my close friends and I, who are of mixed descent, almost always claim allegiance to the non-Caucasian race(s).

Why is that? Has being proud of any white ancestry become so politically incorrect that we no longer want anything to do with it? Or are we all just closet anarchists, secretly despising the U.S. and not wanting anything to do with it?

Hardly. As far as my understanding goes, there is nothing as complex, thoughtful or mature as that involved. It is a case of following the fad of rebelling against what is normal (tragically contradictory and puerile I know, yet I still can't help but play along). Trust me when I say that the stereotypical white male ego has not been drowned in the craze with all that is ethnic.

What I find even more amusing than contemplating the eternal cycles of teenage rebellion is observing the total shock undergone by sheltered Caucasian people when they are suddenly hurtled into a foreign culture. It's pitiable how uncomfortable and intimidated some people are in an alien environment that exists even in their own state!

No matter our individual heritage(s), we are all Americans whether we like it or not. It is so blatantly a part of us that there is very little we can do to hide it even when we want to. No longer can we or should we hide within our own cultural bubbles. So get out and experience life beyond your comfort zone. Foreign cultures and the peoples that belong to them are not any more "foreign" than any others.

Kyra-lin Hom can be reached at kl_hom@yahoo.com