Be yourself, don't just fit in

Shamudi Gunasekera
The Silhouette

Once, when my high school philosophy class was having a discussion, one of my closest friends mentioned that he liked to play video games as a hobby and a girl in my class asked him why he wouldn’t rather go out with his friends. He didn’t reply but I felt that he didn’t like that question very much. What the girl didn’t understand was that his way of connecting with his friends was playing games with them online. Just because her idea of having fun was to go out to clubs with her friends, it didn’t mean that others had to share that same idea. Personally, I despise clubs, but I see why people would consider them to be fun.

Growing up, I never fit in.

I liked to keep to myself. In middle school, I used to read in class while my friends giggled amongst themselves. It was easy for me to drown out the sounds of people talking.

Even now, I don’t really seem to fit in anywhere. I’m tired of being made fun of by others for my taste in music and activities.

For instance, I listen to My Chemical Romance. But that doesn’t give anyone the right to make me feel inferior just because they may not like their music. The fact that they’ve stopped producing music does not matter to me at all.

They will always remain a favorite of mine, and no one can make me feel like I should have a “better’ taste in music. It’s just an example of one of the many genres of music that I listen to.

I’m scattered all over the place. A little bit of everything.

That’s what most people are.

It’s just so easy for us to throw people into a category. We go around compulsively labeling people we see. I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to understand that we are all diverse. We are all unique. We can’t be neatly fit into a stereotype.

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing. You don’t have to read John Green. You don’t have to enjoy reading for pleasure to be considered an intelligent individual.

There’s always going to be someone who hates something you love.

So go ahead and buy that Panic! At The Disco album. Sing along to One Direction in the solitude of your room while dancing. Go to that My Chemical Romance concert - actually, you can’t because they’ve disbanded. Do things you like. Listen to bands you like. Read books you enjoy. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not. You don’t have to pretend to like things that you don’t. You don’t have to adhere to anyone else’s view of what’s good or bad. It doesn’t matter what they think. Do whatever makes you happy. The best thing you can do is be yourself.