The other day, I was having a conversation with one of my roommates after I found out someone had said some negative things about my personality. Even though I did not do anything wrong, my response was, “I know I can sometimes be shy and next time I will make sure to put in more effort to be social. I’m sorry.” For the rest of day, though, I kept asking myself, “Why did I even say sorry?” I did nothing wrong and should not feel bad about being me.
Every single one of us is different and that is what makes the world work. You may be extremely outgoing and love talking to anyone you meet, or you may be a person who rather spend your free time by yourself reading a book or watching TV. And there is nothing wrong with that. People are going to talk, that is inevitable, but you have to stop worrying so much about what other people think. If you want to wear your hair in pigtails, DO IT. If you want to jam out to your favorite Beyoncé song while driving to class with the windows down, DO IT. Let the world know that you aren’t going to apologize for being yourself.
You should never have to validate why you are majoring in art or communications instead of a science major. Or why you decided to transfer schools because you thought it would be a better fit for you. People may not always agree with or understand your decisions, but at the end of the day it’s your life, not theirs' and no one else’s opinion should stop you from being happy and living your life to the fullest.
Learn to love yourself and all the characteristics that make you unique. There are so many people in this world and you will find the ones who love you for you. You should never have to force a laugh, a smile, or pretend to agree with something that you don’t completely understand. Truth be told, no matter how hard you try to be the most likeable person on Earth, there will always be someone who will find something to hold against you, so you might as well be your amazing self and don't apologize for it.
Life is hard and the years that you are going through right now are going to be some of the hardest ones you face. They are going to test everything that you are and change you in many ways. Life is going to push you in a million different directions and the way that you react to these situations is what is going to define you as a person. People are always going to be talking about you whether, it be good or bad, but you have to fully embrace yourself and like my grandmother always says, “be too glam to give a damn” because you are you and were put on the Earth with a purpose. So go out there and “do you” and never apologize for being the wonderful, unique person you are!
