I'm not a star kid by any means. In elementary school, I was gifted, but then life rolled around and everything changed. I could get the grades, but I didn't want to put in the effort. Eventually, I realized that I needed to, and I pulled it around. I live in a tiny town surrounded by farms. There isn't much to do. There are stores, but they aren't for kids. There's one thing to do in a small town. One by one, my friends disappeared to parties. There were no more mid-week sleepovers. There was no more dancing around bonfires. Instead, there were hangovers during English, and the smell of pot in our tiny school hallways. We were all just waiting to graduate and leave the town. I never wanted to smoke or drink or do anything like that. I just wanted to get through high school like everyone else.

We finally graduated. I smiled as I took my diploma, and I realized I was really out of there. I already knew which college I was going to, and I was ready to go. I was nervous, but I knew it would be okay. My college was kind of a drinking school. I have never wanted to drink for personal reasons, so I figured I would just avoid that scene. I was doing pretty good honestly. Then some complete stranger called me a loser. I was asked to go to a party, and I didn't want to. I really just wanted to watch Grey's Anatomy. He was offended when I told him I didn't drink. He laughed when he called me a loser, and then he left. It kind of stunned me at first. I had never really been called anything to my face before. I live in a town of shallow and secretive girls, so it was always a behind-the-back type of thing. I didn't even want to go outside of my dorm.

Then I realized that I didn't care. I wasn't there to make friends and drink myself to death. I was there to get an actual education. I am okay with being a "loser." I love spending nights skyping people instead of at some random house. I will always prefer to curl up in my fuzzy blanket and spend the night relaxing. It stunned me that some stranger called me a loser for my life choices, but I'm over it. While he's passed out, I'm eating easy mac and watching Christmas movies. I don't need people's approval to live the way I want. I am my own person, and if that means being called a loser, I'm okay with that.