While walking through the halls in the 3000 building, I often notice the lack of class amongst some of our fellow students here at Carlsbad High School.  It seems as if  Lindsey Lohan and Charlie Sheen have replaced Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as admirable influences in students’ eyes. In order to help students understand how to be classy, I have a few suggestions to help the confused class it up while at school.

1. Look the part
Classiness begins with how you look.  Let’s face it. First impressions are judged by looks. Creating a tasteful look for yourself includes how you dress and the atmosphere you create, which can be done with a charming, welcoming smile.

When dressing yourself, put on clothes that actually cover your skin. I don’t know who decided to cut a shirt in half and wear it so his or her chained belly ring shows, but it’s not the most pleasant or modest look. Always wear clothes that are clean. If one of your favorite shirts has holes in it, then its time to move on and throw it out. One of the most hated trends by people who aren’t blinded by stupidity is the Uggs and shorts combination. C’mon, that doesn’t make any sense. You wear Uggs to be warm, so why are you wearing shorts? In general, dress classy. Don’t show too much skin, use logic when you pick out an outfit and always flash a smile wherever you go.  Look at Audrey Hepburn for an example, she always looked classy and was always gracious. She defined class and should still be a role model amongst all people today.

2. Have classy intentions
Classiness doesn’t just come from the exterior.  You have to have a classy intentions as well. Don’t magnify your voice so everybody can hear about your explicit, illegal weekend activities because the whole world doesn’t need to know about your tasteless actions.

Don’t air your dirty laundry because people will start nasty, yet sometimes truthful rumors about you.  And who wants that? Nobody. Nobody wants to be called malicious names, and if you are the kind of person who likes that negative attention, then you should try to create some positive attention for yourself instead.

Most importantly, keep your language clean. Classy people don’t cuss like a sailor.

3. Monitor your cyber life
Basically, just keep it clean. Put appropriate pictures on Facebook, not the raunchy ones. You know which ones I’m talking about, the ones you would be embarrassed if your parents saw. Just upload applicable pictures, not photos of you and your friends at EDC.

Also, don’t write things like, “OMG, last nite wuz so fun! lets hangout tonite again! BFFs foreva!” because, no offense, it’s kind of annoying to see simple words misspelled and it shows that you lack intelligence. You went to school for a reason, use the information that you actually learned. A classy person has depth and is interesting, show that depth on Facebook and every where else you go.

4. Keep your dignity
If these past three tips have not meant anything to you, then at least keep your dignity. Don’t sell yourself short and just don’t sell yourself in general. Classy people respect themselves, so please have some self respect.

I honestly hope you took these tips into consideration because many of your fellow classmates are tired of getting the unsettling, nauseated feeling in the pits of our stomach when we see a person bringing down the reputation of the school. Good luck and stay classy Carlsbad.