Forever 21 versus Hot Topic. Pop and Hip-Hop versus metal and pop-punk. Natural blonde hair, leader of the cheer squad versus dyed red hair, leader of nothing. I am not the typical girl, nor the typical student. I am not picture perfect and I don’t get the perfect grades. I have a mom, a dad, and two little brothers. My dad is always working and my mom is really busy. My brothers are six, they look up to me in a way. I’m definitely not the best role model. I lose my temper easy, and I can’t always focus. But there’s a difference between me and the cheer captain; I care more about the people around me than about how I am. My grades have never been the best, that’s no one’s fault but my own. Why worry and stress out an already worried and stressed out parent? Why try to be the best when it’s too late to change anything?

People spend their whole lives thinking that college and education are the answers to everything; getting a job, having a good income, etc. etc. But see, that can’t be right. How can any adult expect a sixteen, seventeen, even eighteen year old to know what they want to do for the rest of their life? You come out as gay, bi, trans, etc. and the response is ‘you’re confused’ or ‘you’re too young to know’; things like that. But people that same age are expected to know what they want to do with the next sixty, seventy years of their life? College is just an excuse; a safety net. When in college, you can still mess up, you still have your family’s support. But the real learning happens outside those four walls. You learn by going out into the world, traveling, trying new things; not by sitting in a room being told about all the world’s wonders. Getting good grades in high school so you can get into college is a good idea, but never think the grade you get reflects how smart you are. Your grade in a class doesn’t tell you or your family how smart you are. You can be the smartest person on the face of the planet and still have a D or an F in a class. It doesn’t mean you aren’t smart. It just means that maybe you struggled or that perhaps you couldn’t find the motivation to do the work. Never let anyone make you feel bad for not reaching their expectation. It’s why it’s THEIR expectation and not yours. You are as perfect as you see yourself. College isn’t everything and it isn’t the key to success. Go out and make mistakes; they’re to be made for a reason. Don't spend so much time being blinded by what society says is the key to success at life that you forget what life is really about.