The beginning of the school year brings back many things: new classes, friends, homework, and most importantly the inevitable topic of which color students believe is to be assigned to each subject. If you have never been a part of one of these conversations, it is easy to assume that you have never taken part in the first week of school at SHS. These conversations continue throughout the entire year, some more heated than others; however, they are most apparent during the first days of class, most likely because this is when students bring out their new, colorful folders for class.
But the real question is, why do we feel the need to select specific colors for these school subjects? Or perhaps, why do we choose the colors that we do?
And the truth is, it is all in our heads.
This is due to the fact that a memory, good or bad, can be associated with a single color. For example, if all of your science text-books were green when you were younger, you will subconsciously pair that color with science. Something happening repeatedly, such as seeing that green text-book while being in that particular class, will leave an imprint on your brain.
Or perhaps your math teacher always made you mark up your mistakes with a red pen. This could make you subconsciously pair red with math, as that was a main part of your experience in this subject.
If you had a particular English classroom that had always been painted bright blue, you may also associate the subject with that color for that reason. It is all in our head and what our mind is seeing.
There are reasons for our habit other than simply memory, it can also be a result of what each color does to our brain.
Cool colors (such as purple and blue) radiate feelings of calmness and relaxation, while warm colors (red or orange) stimulate energy and happiness.
For example, purple is a color that is calming and stimulating to the mind. We tend to associate it with imagination and creativity without thinking about it. So, if there is a specific subject in which you felt that you were calm and able to work creatively in, you would always associate that with purple.
Maybe you always associated math with red. This may be due to the fact that the color red has the effect of raising a room’s energy, and you connect this with the feeling you get when you are able to figure out a hard equation.
However, the logic behind our pairings could also be as simple as liking a certain color. If you really enjoyed your English class when you were younger, you would choose your favorite color folder to pair with it. Then this color becomes almost as connected with English as the reading and writing to you. Or even if you felt you were better in one class than the other, you would choose your least favorite colors to go with your “worst class.” As stated, when your brain reacts to things occurring repeatedly it leaves an impact on the way you see things.
So next time you get into a debate over who has the “right” folder, remind yourself, it’s all in your head.
