There is a lot of emphasis on popularity and beauty in our culture. This is probably true nowhere more than among the youth on college campuses. But there is a very old book that says in part, "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain..." The idea of establishing good character has mostly fallen by the wayside, and many who have the reputation of eschewing establishing themselves with the "in" crowd and following the latest fashion are maligned.
Ask yourself the question, "What is required by the peer group by whom I'm seeking to be accepted?" If they are things that will cost you your character or your identity, then the favor offered by this group is indeed deceitful. If you have to change the way you look or dress to be "accepted," then your acceptance is based on something that is temporary, and thus vain (empty).
You may not think I am making any new points here, and that's true. But because history is repeating itself, and loudly, it bears repeating. The things that matter do not seem even to be considered any more. What is the motivation to abandon the here and now, the fame, fortune, and beauty that appeal to so many? Because a few short years from now, none of it will matter. Oh, there will always be a new peer group with new "rules," but at the end of your life, who will you be? Why will you have been here? And the ultimate question, where will you go?
The answer that will take you places is found at the end of that quote, "...but a [person] who fears the Lord, [he or] she shall be praised." (Proverbss 31:31)
