"You're so dramatic"

"You're so extra"

"You're seriously doing the most"

How many times have you heard people saying that — or how many times have you said that?

Recently, I've noticed it's become a trend to call others "extra" and "dramatic." I catch myself saying it about other people and other people saying it about me. From minor things like asking for your fries with no salt to bigger issues like not being able to get over someone, I feel like everything we do is deemed "dramatic." We create Finstas and anonymous blogs where we would rather vent about our problems and lives to strangers than to family and friends who are close to us. Because, today, that's just how it is. It's as if you can't talk about your problems because you are then being a burden.

You feel nervous about a guy following you home at night — you're "dramatic."

You're still upset about your ex who you've broken up with six months ago — you're "extra."

Because, God forbid, you actually care about something or someone.

You have to be cool, calm, and collected all the time, and it's exhausting.

There are so many reasons someone could over-react. College is strange because you feel like you know people. You see them all the time, you live down the hall, you've talked about deep stuff. But what I noticed is that in reality these people barely know you and you barely know them. They only see what you show them and you only see what they show you. The happy girl sitting next you could have suffered from depression for seven years, the boy across from you could have lost his father three months ago, your neighbor might have been dealing with bipolar disorder. You have no idea what people are going through.

Not everyone cries in public for people to feel bad for them and not everyone escalates a seemingly small problem just for attention. The fact of the matter is that the situation at hand is bothering someone. We assume and make judgments without knowing the full story. And we make people feel bad just for feeling.

Call me dramatic — because we all are. Some people are just better at hiding it than others. I think it's important to remember that yes, sometimes people make a big deal out of nothing but to them it's not "nothing."

Emotion drives us, it brings us down, it moves us, and it holds us back — it's what makes us human.