99.5% of the people you interact with everyday are fake. Hey, it's a thing that happens. And it's fine- calling someone 'beautiful' when they aren't, or saying "aw, you were great" when they really weren't, is just a part of our culture. However, I would love it if everyone were like Michelle Cao.
Let me just say that every year I meet a few people who just amaze me in some outstanding way. And by that, I mean that sure, I meet people everyday who are beautiful and interesting and sweet and powerful, but there is a certain type of person that just makes me want to hug the world everytime I see them. Michelle Cao is literally the most real and beautiful (on the inside) person that I've met.
The first time I saw Michelle, I was a freshman, just eating lunch in the cafeteria. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a short Asian girl with a pixie haircut digging into the trashcan, literally face first in a pile of high school lunchroom waste. From afar she was an oddity, but I really started to understand her this year, after I joined Improv Club.
Michelle is fearless. She will talk to herself in front of people, like she's acting out the scenarios that everyone pictures in their heads. Her fashion sense is quirky, and the confidence that she exudes naturally just stuns me everytime. Having a conversation with Michelle can instantly turn into an improv sketch, and her wit is not easily matched.
But back to how she's real.
Encountering fake and boring people in my everyday life just drains the hell out of me. I need someone like Michelle to add that uncensored humour and opinion to my life. Too many people put up an act, but with people like Michelle, one can instantly tell that she's authentic. She won't lie to your face, but she won't be mean. She simply exists and exists beautifully, bringing an uncensored, real, feeling to your friendship with her.
It's just that ability to be themselves unapologetically that makes real people great to hang out with. Humans have this 6th sense that can tell if someone is "faking" their personality. So if it isn't in your to be like Michelle, an unapologetic and authentic person then maybe you shoud do some self-evaluating.