From the surface, you might think this is the most cliché, superficial piece of garbage you have ever read, and after reading it you might think so as well, but for those of you who don’t, take what I give you and try to do something with it.

I’ve grown up just like every other kid: My middle school days were so embarrassing, borderline shameful, and a time that does not exist in my mind. My clothes didn’t match, my hair wasn’t brushed, and I was lucky if I had two of the same shoes on. But honestly, those were my happiest times. I wasn’t yet exposed to those judgments that came with high school, by both my teachers and my peers, and I didn’t know what was coming.

Whether I was judged or not, I felt like I had some sort of surveillance constantly on me. I had these presumptions that someone was always watching me move, waiting for me to mess up, and that took a toll on me. My years in high school were burdened with the desire, the need to be my best self always, even if that wasn’t who I necessarily truly was.

Then I got to college, and in college, there is this assumption that you can be, or do, anything you want. And boy did that inspire the hell out of me. I started to set fire to everything I did, whether I was successful or not. I live by this doctrine of “give every ounce of yourself or give your left arm trying.”

No, I’m not saying I had this epiphany and I suddenly became my truest self at all times, but I let the people who wanted to judge me, judge me. I strive to be my best self for my teammates, my parents, my sister, my friends. Nobody else deserves my anxiety worrying if I was living the life they wanted. Nobody. So I don’t let them have it.

So in college, I began to stray from normality. While other kids want to fit in, I strive to shine. I want people to know my name. Not in the sense that I am infamous, but that whoever sees me knows me in the light that the rest of the world does. I yearn to be different, I love to do what I want, be who I want, and be the boldest person I can be.

Honestly, if there were a time that I would like to erase, it would be high school. I kept my unimaginable potential deep inside myself. College brought out the passion that I lost in those years.

So if you do think this is cliché, frankly I don’t care, and while I’m setting the world ablaze, you're just trying to put it out, but good luck.