Ever since we were little we would see the advertisments on televison about, "Which character are you?!" or numerous personality tests. Such tests that could magically tell you which person or stereotype you were based on a few random questions.

Going through life I always struggled with who I was. For some reason after taking those " Which Character Are You?" quizzes I felt compelled to act like the character I always got. Or, I would try to act differently to resemble the "cute girl" from a show, in hopes that my personality would change and I would get the character I wanted to be seen as. While some may say it's okay to aspire to have similar qualities to a person you admire, there's a fine line between aspiring and becoming. Personally, I think it is okay to look up to someone and think, "hey, they're pretty cool and are on top of their A game, I want to be like them, I want to be on my A-game." The important part there is to say I want to have that certain quality that the person has. The negative side of the line is changing yourself to mold into another form. Adding qualities is okay. Completely changing yourself is not.

There is so much pressure from social media and society these days to look and act a certain way. Society tells us to "dress nicely and respectfully, but also show some skin, just not too much skin because we wouldn't want to appear slutty". Society also tells us, " watch what you eat, you don't want to get fat. But also remember you need to have a fuller bust and bigger hips to be considered beautiful. Get fat in the right places, not the wrong places." And somehow wearing a short skirt means that we are telling people to look at our butts, instead of simply saying that it's hot out or that the skirt happened to be fashionably cute. We have been conditioned to be like a certain person or a certain fad. To look, dress and act a certain way, all because society is favoring those who follow along with the trends. There are so many ridiculous "tests", such as, the thing gap, the I-phone 6 knee test or the Kylie Lip trend that continue to push these insane boundaries and constrictive guidelines. It is as if people are saying you must do all of these things to be considered beautiful. How ridiculous is that?

Everyone has seen the memes on social media, " 7th graders then vs 7th graders now", where we all know the awkward phase with braces, really bad make-up, and the all too well known Justice jumper. But in this day and age 7th graders look like 18 year olds, completely skipping the awkward phase and dressing to follow society's ways. Wearing revealing tops and tight bottoms. Could it be that every one of them is just showing their personality? Yes, but it also runs the risk of them trying to be what's "cool" or them appealing to an older crowd which has the potential to be dangerous. Their trying to act older than they are, because that's what society wants from them, society says that they need to do so in order to be perceived in a certain way.

With all of these factors added into our daily lives, how are we supposed to just be ourselves? To just be who we want without facing the fears of being shunned or judged by society or mocked on social media. It's us against the world.

I had an epiphany one day. I was sitting in my art class trying to decide if I was the shy girl or the funny one. I need to decide if I was the Monica, Rachel, or Phoebe of the friend group, but then, it hit me. I didn't have to be one or the other. I had certain qualities that made me a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I wasn't 100% a certain way. I could be a bunch of different ways. I could be one part shy girl, one part funny girl, and one part weird art girl. Everything, all of it, I am allowed to be. I am allowed to be me. And whether that means that I want to dress conservatively or show some skin, it doesn't mean that I'm following a trend or a certain fashion fad. It doesn't define me as a character. It does not make me the "cool girl" or the "shy one". I'm just being me and that's the me I chose to be.

I ask you to consider which you, you are going to be? Follow the trend or pick bits and pieces.