I often ponder what it means to be me. What comes to people’s minds when they think of me. The good. The bad. The ugly. I often ponder why I even come up in other people's conversations and minds. Why me?

Me, the usually quiet girl, who watches everything going on around her, but from a far. Who will tell you when you’ve screwed up without fear. Me, the one who often flies under the radar. The one who is often times judged for my “obnoxious laugh”,which is something that makes me, me. Yet, the girl who is still criticized by those around me. Better yet, when I try to show my true colors and get told to “be quiet. Why are you so loud?” Maybe, just maybe, I’m loud, because when I feel like being my true self, I do it whole heartedly. Maybe, I enjoy being the loud and obnoxious girl sometimes.

Me being me is no longer accepted in this day and age. Me trying to be me gets mistaken for seeking attention and being “annoying.” Today’s generation is for “fitting in”, not for being yourself. You see, I am supposed to be a “normal” college student. I am supposed to be a "normal" girl. I am supposed to be what society wants me to be.

But what if I don’t want to limit my volume or laugh to please others? Shouldn’t I be encouraged to be more me and less you? Being you means I am not my true self. In fact, I would just blend in with the rest of the young adult population. How boring.

If being me is a crime, then arrest me. If being me is so hard for people to wrap their heads around, then keep trucking along, because I don’t have time for your degrading comments on something that makes me, me.

Although my laugh isn’t the only quality that gets mentioned, it is the most prominent. That being said, if you really knew me, you would know that my laugh makes several appearances a day. That my laugh makes me one of a kind. That my laugh expresses my happiness, even on my bad days.

Laughing allows us to find joy in the bad days, as well as the good days. Laughing is a way to make yourself and those around you feel jubilant.

So, stop telling me to “be quiet”, and start telling me “your laugh is contagious”.

Because laughing is indeed contagious.