All my life, I’ve been normal, average, mundane or “plain Jane.” I was just another body passed by in the hallway, another forgotten face. Average was my comfort zone, and if I’m being honest... I didn’t want it to be. My greatest desire was to be known for something — to be better than average. I wanted to be able to feel like I had a niche in this world; a place made for me where I could suddenly become the child prodigy I so desperately desired to become. It wasn’t the attention or fame associated with talent, but it was the flame of passion and accomplishment I wanted to acquire. Nothing extraordinary was my name, and it would take years to change it.

“You are perfectly normal and average on the scale,” my doctor said to me.

5'2", brown hair, brown eyes, not a lean muscular body but not overweight either and a basic bone structure with a slightly awkward nose was what someone would gather just by looking at me. My grades were usually A’s which was extremely normal at my school. There was nothing odd or different about me.

I was basic playdough which took form based on who shaped me.

My friend groups consistently changed from elementary school to high school, and I changed with them, becoming who they were while trying to find myself. My normality was my own doing after I saw how much my closet mirrored my friends’ and how drastically different I was each year. I was nothing extraordinary all these years because I let myself be a follower of the masses — wishing for a chance to fit in.

I was a jack of all trades but a master of none.

I realized that hanging out with people who play tennis would not make me a good tennis player, making an appearance in the musical theater group wouldn’t make me a Broadway star, joining the math team wouldn’t make me super brilliant and that the passion for accomplishment I sought would have to be done on my own and not by copying others. While ordinary is all I may be, I will try for the rest of my life chasing the flame of inspiration to become successful in my own right. Until then, I am content with being extraordinarily ordinary.