Gather around my fellow awkward creatures of this planet. Form a circle and let’s go around and begin our official “APA” meeting (Awkward People Anonymous). How have these first two sentences made you feel? Well if you cringed just as much as I did, then let me introduce myself:

Hi. I’m Me, and I am a socially awkward individual.

I have a tendency to trip on flat surfaces and have the capability of rambling an entire sentence into about three words. I’m the “humor” of my friend group but only because I have the social skills of a piece of toast. Ah yes, I am like many of you, the awkward turtle. I have thought in the past of how so many of us have made it this far. Over the years, have so many of us developed that our society thrives off our awkwardness?

I am putting this out there right away — being awkward is not a bad thing. The people around us thrive off of our incapability of not going a day without doing something completely out of the box that is social norm. (Like when the ticket salesman at the movies tells you to “Enjoy the movie.” and you confidently exclaim “You too!”) Awkward is who we are! It is as normal to us as it is normal for the Earth to spin on its axis. Scream it from the rooftops, my lovely forms of life! Let the world know how awkward you are, drop the mic and then proceed to trip over that mic! Because guess what? You’re awkward, and that is something beautiful you are bringing to this corner of the universe.

Now you might be thinking, “What is this lady talking about? She literally just told me to trip over a microphone in front of the world.”

Why yes, I did! Want to know why? Because there are only so many people who can properly drop microphones (Barack Obama). OK, that wasn’t really my point. The real reason I proposed such a ridiculous idea is because that ridiculous idea is showing the world you embrace who you truly are. We awkward individuals are fully capable of succeeding just like everyone else. I know it can be difficult at times, because there are going to be those people who feel the need to point out your awkwardness. (Yes, I did know I was awkward. Thank you for being the millionth person to tell me.) But like those pesky mosquitoes, all you have to do is swat them away (quite literally sometimes).

Let us recap this “meeting,” shall we? Writing this made me not only cringe at myself, but I also laughed (because I think I’m funny). Ultimately though, it reminded me that I like the awkward turtle that resides within me. Sure, there are times where I curse myself because I am incapable of taking a proper picture, or that meeting new people is an individual battle each time because as mentioned before, I have the social skills of toast. But guess what? People still like toast, and people still like you! That’s right, you wonderful slices of bread — we are loved and appreciated by many despite it all! We have a special way of brightening a person's day, and I believe this world would be pretty dull without us.

Now say it with me, everyone: “I’m awkward, and I’m proud!”

(Drops mic and then proceeds to trips over it, all while laughing at the ‘Spongebob’ reference.)