Everyone has a group they belong to, right? The jocks, the geeks, the goths, the scene kids, and yes, even the band geeks. Each of these groups are filled with people who are without a doubt, accepted for being like the rest. And it is common knowledge that everyone belongs to one of these groups, right? Wrong.
In high school, I was a floater. I moved from group to group and had a few friends in each of them, whether it be the goth girl I sat next to in English, the jock I had math with, or the band geeks I joined during concert band class. But I never really… fit, anywhere. I was able to move from stereotype to stereotype without much fuss and with no one batting an eyelash, but I wasn’t happy. I didn’t have a group that I belonged to, because every time I tried, I fell short. Band wasn’t my whole life, like it was for most band geeks. Sports were never the “end all, be all” either. None of these groups captured my full personality.
This led to a lot of confusion in the mind of my high school self. I would always ask myself “If I can’t even find like-minded people now, how will I find them in the future?” The truth was, it was easier than I could have ever expected. I came to college with all of these preconceived notions about people and how they acted and the groups that they “just had” to belong to. But thankfully, I was so very very wrong. Going to college was like opening a door to a whole new world. People were less one-dimensional in their personalities and suddenly I was surrounded by people who had varying interests and belonged to just as many of these “groups” as I did.
So, that is my point. To all of my fellow floaters out there, keep moving along, because yes, there are more of us out there and we’re not too hard to find. Embrace the fact you’re multifaceted, because I can guarantee that all of your friends have already embraced this fact about you. You are easily adaptable and enjoy a myriad of activities. These might include watching/playing sports, poetry, painting, photography, Dungeons and Dragons, and a list that contains thousands of other activities. All of these work together to create the very special and very unique person that is you.
Don’t fret because you feel like you’re not “normal” for not fitting in. Embrace your own type of weird and revel in the opportunities that you have available. Make the most out of those weird weekends that other people won’t understand. Go play volleyball with your jock friends, catch a movie with the film fanatic you’ve been friends with since elementary school, and finish the night out with Dungeons and Dragons before catching that indie show in the next city over. You are going to make unbelievable memories to last you a lifetime. So what if you don’t fit in -- stand out… you were born to do it.
