When I think back to high school only one word comes to mind: weird. From bad haircuts to awkward interactions with boys I can't think of any part of high school that was normal. Yet for some reason when I ask other people about their time they seem to look back at it like it was the best four years of their life. So then I start to think, maybe it's just me? Am I the one who made it such a strange time? That is very possible.
Most people don't finish high school with the same people they started it with, but I was lucky enough to maintain a really close group of girlfriends since elementary and middle school. The five of us have had so many adventures, so many ups and downs, they really made those years worth it. These girls were gorgeous, social butterflies and always having fun. It always seemed odd to me that I was involved with this friend group because I was more on the shy and awkward side. When I say those years were tough on me, I mean it. I mean it like I accidentally shaved off half my eyebrow in the eighth grade and had a chipped front tooth until I was a junior.
In a sea of long-haired blondes and brunettes, I am the girl in the back with the short purple hair not sure what to do with her hands. I watch anime, listen to bands instead of trap music, social situations scare the heck out of me and I'd rather stay home on a Saturday night than go to a party. If I didn't have those girls around me I might have gone all four years of high school without ever having fun. It can be challenging, though, putting yourself out there like that. Now that I'm in college I'm thankful for them encouraging me to be social but at the time it was hard.
I really think that who you surround yourself influences you. Sometimes I wonder what I would be like if I had a different group of friends. Although they influenced me a great amount I have always managed to maintain my originality in different ways. When you see us out in public you don't have to know us to know I'm the odd one out. The tall, pale, purple haired one with uneven eyeliner. But also the one who is independent, unique and herself.
Part of the lesson they taught me about being social is everyone sees through your confidence if it's not real. And after so many long years of transparency, the confidence is real. I'll always be weird and awkward but my friends showed me that it's great. Because it's me. I am grateful to those girls for the years of social torture and painful yet awesome memories. I wouldn't be myself otherwise.
