Do you ever feel like you don't fit in with your age group? Or that mentally you don't fit in with where you're at in life? Well that is exactly how I feel.

This year I will be a junior in college. Don't get me wrong, I actually really enjoy school. I enjoy the academics and being able to finally focus on the subject that I am passionate about. I enjoy the freedom, the independence, and even the responsibility. But something is different for me than it must be for the every day "college girl."

Honestly when I think of a college girl I think of baggy t-shirts and Nike shorts, Starbucks, complaining about finals, sororities, Lilly Pulitzer, an obscene amount of the word "like" in their everyday vocabulary, and a large emphasis on checking Instagram and Snapchat. Why is it that I have this stereotypical view of what a college girl is like when none of this describes me, yet I am in fact a girl in college?

I still believe in dressing decent to go to class. I do like Starbucks, but you won't catch me drinking a sweet and sugar-overloaded frappe. I don't think anyone enjoys finals, but tweeting and posting on Instagram about it repeatedly seems counterproductive. I am not in a sorority. Lilly Pulitzer will never be in my closet. I try to refrain from using like after every word in an effort to seem intelligent. Social media...well I have those accounts but definitely not an obsession. So if I am a college girl, then why am I so different?

I know there must be more of you out there that do not fit this stereotype. Not that there is anything wrong with fitting it, I just know I can't be the only one who is different. In high school it at least seemed like there was a group for every type of person. Now, I feel like I'm the only one who hasn't fallen into the "college girl" group.

So here's to the girls that don't fit the stereotype. The girls who wear what they want, actually like school, and aren't afraid to be different. We are still college girls. Just our own brand. There's nothing wrong with not fitting in. College is where we were supposed to come and finally be able to be ourselves without ridicule. To focus on where we were going in life, with the people who were headed in the same direction. Just because you're not in a sorority doesn't mean you can't have friends. And just because you don't dress or act a certain way doesn't mean you don't belong.

xoxo,

the college girl who's not a "college girl"