In my four years of high school, I’ve been everything at once. I’ve been the cheerleader. I’ve been the dancer. I’ve been the singer and performer. I’ve been the straight As and the straight Cs. I’ve been edgy and soft and shy and outspoken. I’ve even managed to be nothing to anyone at all. I guess I’ve been taking my time trying to figure out who it was I wanted to be after all of this.

    One thing I think most people about high school but still find themselves surprised by, is the pressure to look a certain way for people. It’s a cliché and everyone thinks that cliché is something their life is definitely not.

     As a girl, you can’t win in any of these situations. If you dress up, you’re a try-hard, and if you don’t you’re a slob. If you wear nice clothes and smile, you are fake and pretentious and probably the rich girl with nothing to lose.

     Up until about two months ago, I was trying to please everyone. I was trying to be everything I thought people wanted to see from me. I wouldn’t wear my favorite heels because I didn’t want guys and girls whom I thought were friends to call me “the clack” (the sound my heels make on the linoleum) or more commonly the “Eiffel tower,” and I definitely didn’t want people thinking I was trying to be above anyone. But then (and here’s the big idea) I stopped caring.   

     Everyday I have girls who are younger than me tell me they love my confidence and my style and that they wish they could “pull it off.” But the stupid thing is…they can. There is no reason that I should have spent four years trying to find out where I fit in because it’s obvious that I just don’t. I don’t belong in Birkenstocks and Hunters, I belong in Louboutin and Michael Kors. In the past few weeks I’ve found more stability and balance in my life four inches above the ground than I ever could have with my heels touching the floor. And I couldn’t be happier.