We come into this world expected to live up to some standard that society has put on to us. Men and women are supposed to act in a certain way, and if anyone breaks from that, they are treated differently. This is a standard that dates all the way back to elementary school and carries on throughout our lives.

To be different, especially in school days, meant you were put into a different category. You were seen as weird for not following along with societies standards. So to those who express their differences, this on is for you.

I always felt different from the rest of my peers. When I was in school, I was put in special education classes and was outcasted by my classmates. It wasn't until I started to get mainstreamed into regular classes that I was slowly starting to be accepted.

I find it strange that someone who isn't a part of the same learning curriculum as you makes them weird. In the end aren't we all learning the same thing?

The pre-teen and the teen years are probably the most difficult part of anyone's life. Hormones start to change, and eventually, you start to see a change in not only yourself but in the people around you.

Those years happened to be hell on earth for me because I wasn't seen as masculine and the rumors of me being gay plagued me throughout middle school and high school and left me outcasted from the "social circle."

Truth be told, I never really wanted to be the same as everyone else. Why should I subject myself to liking the same things as everyone else? Why try to be like everyone else when I can be my person?

And this is the lesson that everyone should go by. We all have our different traits and our various personalities. If we all acted the same way, then everything would just be boring.

And what defines "being different?" Is it the way we act? The way we dress? Is it the color of our skin and our sexuality? Is religion involved in this? We spend our whole lives being different from each other, why does it have to be an issue?

To those who feel that they feel different from their peers, don't feel bad. Embrace those differences and stand out of the crowd. I assure you that there are people out there who love the same things that you do.

In 2017, we should be able to accept things that are outside the norm. We should be able to look at things from a different perspective and learn to accept those who are different.

No matter what color we are or what gender we are. What kind of outfit we wear or whatever it is that makes us unique, at the end of the day we are all still human.