Dear You,
I don’t know who you are. Maybe you’re a high school student, one who is constantly feeling the pressure to fit in with everyone else. Maybe you’re in college, contemplating whether or not you should pick up that bottle because that’s what “you’re supposed to do.”
Or maybe you’re not. Maybe you’re the one who sits on the sidelines while everyone else is enjoying the latest trends in order to stay within their circle of friends, experimenting with drugs and worrying about dating the captain of the football team (because he’s the captain and that’s how they keep themselves at the top of the social chain).
Maybe you’re the outcast. The quiet one. The bookworm. The one who has never had a boyfriend.
The one who decided to go against the flow.
My name is Lexie, and I’m not here to educate you about why you shouldn’t do drugs or anything like that. I’m here to tell you that I’m proud of you. I’m proud that you’re doing what you feel in your heart is the right thing to do and for not worrying about what everyone else thinks; because let me tell you something -- that took me a long time to do.
I was the girl who was seen as “the goody two-shoes.” I didn’t drink underage, didn’t and still have not experimented with drugs and didn’t sneak out in the middle of the night to do something that my mom wouldn’t have approved of.
Today, I have no regrets. I never have felt that I wasn’t “living,” or trying new things like others would argue. The way I see it, there are two different types of “trying new things;” the one I preferred was going on adventures, reading a different kind of book and traveling somewhere new with my family when the opportunity arose.
Don’t be afraid to be who you are. Right now, it may seem as if materialism and your social status is what will get you through life. While it’s OK to have some nice things (believe me, I love my Michael Kors jacket), it's important to realize that having UGGs and a designer bag won’t lead you to real friends.
I always say, “Be yourself and the right people will love you.” Know who you are, that is what is important in life. Be happy with the decisions you make, help out someone in need and realize that there’s more to life than the weird days of high school (and maybe college). There’s a whole world out there, and all of those things that people say are a huge deal in school -- they really aren’t.
So, outcast, quiet one, bookworm, whoever you may be -- be proud.
Love, one of you.
