Hi. I work at American Eagle Outfitters, I'm a nutrition and dietetics major, I love fitness and health foods, I'm a dancer, and I listen to a lot of post-hardcore and pop punk music. I go to shows regularly and I wear more eyeliner than I should.

Oh yeah, I live in the country too!

Recently, stereotyping has become way more prevalent in our society. I've met so many people, even in college, that are much too worried about fitting into what is considered normal, or into a specific stereotype. Even when I go on any type of social media, I see posts making fun of people who don't fit into these stereotypes perfectly.

I'm sorry, but who wants to be a copy of a general idea? Who doesn't want to be unique?

In the past, I got caught up in fitting into these ideas. I thought since I listened to a certain type of music, I had go dress a certain way. I thought that since I dressed a certain way, I couldn't work at a certain store. I thought that since I live in the middle of nowhere, I had to listen to country music and wear boots. I thought that since I love health and fitness, I had to have all the $100 leggings advertised on Instagram. I thought that since I was a dancer, I couldn't have muscles.

I thought I would lose my friends and the people that mean the most to me. I thought since I wasn't the same as them, they'd give up on me. I was worried I would have a hard time making new friends because I didn't fit into one specific stereotype completely.

The more I type, the more ridiculous I realize this is, and honestly, I'm glad I have!

I'm more confident than I've been in my entire life.

Because for once, I am all me. I am full of passion, creativity, love, and happiness and I refuse to let anyone or anything take that away from me. This includes the ideas of what a person should be that has the same interests as me. I am my own person, one hundred percent.

But I didn't find this happiness until I learned to love myself for who I am. I had to learn how ridiculous stereotypes were, and that if you love something, run with it! My passions are what make me who I am. They might be totally random, they might not be normally what people think I'd be passionate about, but i'm happy, and that's all that matters.

Be proud of who you are. Feel confident in how unique you are. Be passionate about anything and everything. Stereotypes should not rule over your happiness.