Back in the 1960s it was all about world peace and being a hippie. People smoked weed and lived in communities where they were naked all the time and experimented with their sexuality, and grew their hair out both on their heads as well as… other places. Today, the hippie fad is over, but those who were hippies still hold on to bits and pieces of their peace-and-love identities. Some keep their hair long, and others keep a secret pot stash. We all manage to keep a piece of who we were in the past, whatever the style and fads were at the time. It’s 2017, and sure, fads come, go, and have a rebirth, but it isn’t Woodstock anymore. However, we still find people today in their '60s and '70s that maybe wear a polo and dress shorts on the golf coarse, or a suit to a fancy event, who go back to the long hair, bra-less, tie-dye look they rocked in the past, because that's part of their identity.

For me, and many other people my age today, I’m still living like it’s 2007, and I’m still an emo/scene kid at heart.

For many, emo/scene wasn’t just clothing or music – it was a way of life. It was who we were. It was about expression through fashion, make up, hair, music, and so much more. Many of us rocked a side bang, other’s experimented with different colored hair. Some had piercings such as "snake bites" on the bottom lip or a septum piercing. Black was our go-to color. If it came in black, I got it. But we loved bright, funky patterns, too. 99% of my clothing was patterned with Hello Kitty or skulls. Hot Topic was my second home, and all of my clothing had to look great with my favorite, black Chucks. When it came to music, the more screaming the better. I listened to any band whose name could be shortened into an acronym. My Myspace was decorated with a layout the featured funky patterns. My song was “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies” by P!ATD, and I went by the name Nikki Ninja – because any and all emo/scene kids on Myspace had an alliterated name. “Pc4pc” and “w4w” were how I worked my way to Myspace fame, which I never got. I became fluent in HTML, because everything had to be PERFECT. I kept my skinny jeans up with a black studded belt, and my t-shirts donned names of bands. My make up was dark and bold. My waterline was as darkly lined as possible, and popped with my light skin and purple, blue, or black, glittery eye shadow. I wore the black, overly-flare pants with the chains, and I lived in hoodies. I had checkered vans and skater shoes. Skulls covered everything right down to bikinis, bras, and socks – even some of my shoes!

Looking back on my life, the days where I was a full-on emo/scene girl were the best days of my life. I had cute clothes, good friends, and, while the internet and social media were blowing up, it wasn’t all there was in life. We were just getting started. And, sure, maybe that life is behind me. I don’t remember any HTML now. Picture comments, whore codes, and internet fame is the least of my worries, and I have ventured off to other colors besides black. My make up skills have gotten so much better, and my hair is finally the cute blue and teal I have always wanted it to be. In the past year I have seen Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco in concert, and rocked out to all of the songs like I was still in middle school. I still shop at Hot Topic. In fact, I was recently pre-approved for their credit card!

The emo/scene kids are still here. We just grew up, and we learned how to create a more modern, adult-like version of who we were ten years ago. We take over Instagram and Snapchat rather than Myspace. We wear our skull covered underwear and band tees under our business suits, and we rock out to the same bands on our way to work, or as we take our kids to school, because that is who we are. Just because ten years has passed doesn’t mean we’ve grown out of it. We've simply just grown up.

This is who I am.

I am skulls and Hello Kitty.

I am screamo music.

I am skinny jeans.

I am, and always will be, an emo/scene kid.