"So where do you fit in?"

Growing up, there were always different cliques and different groups of people within those cliques. Movies and television shows portrayed these same cliques to viewers everywhere. People grew up believing they would be categorized into one group at an early age and that's what you'll always be considered as. It stays with you for the rest of your schooling. I certainly was one of those people who believed that.

But it's not like that at all. Not even close.

Once you're out of school, it doesn't even matter if you played on a sports team or was in the school's band, for example. People will remember you for how you treated others. For how you handled situations. The star football player won't be remembered as that, but if he treated people with kindness and dignity. That isn't all he did either. He was an expert in video games and did well in school. Does that fit into the criteria of the stereotypical male jock? Not at all. But just because one person does one thing, does not mean they cannot partake in other ordeals. The "most popular girl in school" enjoys a pottery class in her free time and taking care of children in a daycare as her job. She is a caring individual with an artistic side, but while in school, people will only believe what they think when they believe a certain way. That "because she is popular, she is a b***h," which certainly is not the case. People need to overlook what they initially believed based on what they have learned through entertainment. That's all it is: just entertainment. It's not a guideline to how life works that we should all fit into these categories.

Just because a man is gay, it doesn't mean he is into fashion. An African American enjoys listening to music, but it doesn't mean it has to be rap. Because a Christian enjoys reading, it doesn't mean it always has to be the Bible. You hear someone is a nurse in a hospital, you should not automatically assume it's a woman. You hear someone is a mechanic at your local shop -- you should not automatically assume it's a man. Countless upon countless stereotypes that have appeared nowadays need to be broken and rid of forever, especially cases where people judge and are cruel because they believe one thing. Because they are Muslim, it does not mean they are a terrorist. Because they are black, it does not mean they will cause problems that will involve cops. Because you are one thing, does not mean you have to fall into a category. People automatically placing others into a category is what is wrong with this world. It's not how it should be and no one should ever be placed into a category, especially against their will where they have no way to control it. It's grouping people together who have tried their whole lives to stand apart.

Why should we have to fit in to one group? No one should just consider themselves anything singular. That's not all anyone is. If we were all one type of person, in all honesty, we would all be incredibly boring. Having various different qualities makes us to be unique to ourselves and helps to create our personalities.

I am certainly not one type of person. I don't fall into a specific category. I don't want to fall into a specific category, for that matter. I like that I am the only one of my kind. That everything I do is because it brings happiness to my life.

So, having said that, my name is Samantha Burkhardt and I am an athlete. I am also a sorority girl, a metal head, an aspiring cook, a book lover, a nature appreciator, a content creator (for Odyssey, clearly), a beach bum and an extrovert on some days while being an introvert on others. I am a friend, a daughter, a niece, a cousin, a girlfriend and most importantly, a human being. I am much more and then some, as is everyone else in the world.

I am certainly not just one type of person.