If you live in Florida, you've likely heard of Rollins College—my school, my home, my favorite place in the state. And, if you know anything at all about the school, especially if you are college age yourself, you've likely heard of the Rollins "type". Rich frat boys and bottle-blonde Lululemon-loving girls fit into what people usually envision.

Now, this sort of stereotype isn't limited to my little college of course. I know from friends at universities all over the country that there is always a "type" and there are always groups that you and your peers are inevitably lumped into by the way you dress, the classes you choose, the extra-curricular activities you take part in, and so on. I have found, both from my own college experiences and from those of friends, that there is usually a specific type that is associated with each university. There is a sort of person that is somehow established as the standard, the norm of the college.

At Rollins, the "type" is usually wealthy, just a touch over-groomed, caucasian, and ranging from upper-middle class to incredibly wealthy. And yet, this sort of person is actually the minority on campus, and even amongst those who are assumed to be a part of "that crowd" many are actually incorrectly placed; set into the group by a snap judgment based on a tone of voice or a pair of leggings with an Omega label. I frequently find myself amongst this number of unfairly stereotyped Rollins students.

I am blonde (naturally, but with highlights), am a big fan of makeup and Starbucks, and appreciate leggings as much as the next girl, so, inevitably I both fit into and perpetuate the "Rollins type". And yet, I, like many others on the campus in the same boat, am not inherently bitchy, pride myself in being genuine, am embarrassingly nerdy, have a pretty good head on my shoulders, and am not disgustingly wealthy (my family is firmly middle class and I am only able to attend Rollins because of oodles of scholarships, savings, and a small but growing pile of student debt).

Yet, even people who have become my close friends in my past three years at Rollins have made comments to me along the lines of, "you are so not what I was expecting when I first saw you", or "I definitely thought you were the typical Rollins girl until I got to know you better". And so, I began to worry that it was my fault; that I was perpetuating some false version of myself that did not at all reflect the sort of person I truly am (the usual millennial crisis). So, naturally, my solution was to dye my hair pink. Not crazy hot pink, just a soft light pink mixed with the blonde, but enough of a weird shift to firmly set me apart from the nonexistent type of girl that people seemed to assume that I was.

My (briefly) pink hair attempt to break free of stereotypesLea Warren

In addition to this, I found myself displaying my tattoos (2 small ones and a large one on my back) as much as I could, covered my backpack in pins related to Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and a myriad of other dorky fandoms that I adore, and generally did everything I could to push my image away from the stereotype I'd been defined by.

Towards the end of this past summer though, the pink faded from my hair (to those wanting to dye their hair—pink is impossible to keep up with), and with it, I began to shake off the pressures of being on campus. I realized as I prepared to return, blonde once more, to campus for my senior year, and I realized that I absolutely did not want or need to put in the exhaustive efforts of changing myself to look a certain way, simply to avoid false first impressions.

I realized, I like being blonde; in fact, I'm proud to be a blonde with brains and enjoy shattering that stereotype alone. I like drinking Starbucks, and I like when my binders coordinate with my backpack. I'm comfortable in leggings (it's like wearing pjs to class), and beyond all of that, I like completely exceeding people's expectations when they take a moment to talk to me rather than just looking at me as I walk past. I like looking the part of a "Rollins girl" and proving that that means being strong, intelligent, confident, and put together.

With classes starting and everyone jumping back into the swing of things, I encourage students to take a moment to consider if/how you have been stereotyped at their universities and embrace that they are so much more than that. And, once they have embraced that for themselves, I challenge them to give someone else the chance to prove their "type" wrong.