Around this time of the year last year, I was busy writing college applications and ordering graduation accessories. I was a little happy that high school was almost over, but I felt annoyed because it felt like graduation accessory company was pressuring me and my friends to buy different packages that came with needless accessories. Of course, our parents bought those packages because they had bargain price or they were a necessary keepsake for remembering this moment in the future.

Few days later, the company sends another advertisement about their "top quality" class rings that were on sale. Again, my parents made me get this useless, overpriced ring as a memento. I was furious. Why buy a useless, thousand dollar ring if I could use the same amount of money to buy really nice camera equipment.

I tried talking my parents out of buying this ring but my mom said it was a necessary item for celebrating my graduation and she talked about some kind of ring turning ritual that her family has been doing for a long time. Apparently, on the day of graduation, I wear the ring facing towards me and after the graduation, a family member turns the ring outwards signifying that I have finally graduated.

I thought it was dumb, but I went with their decision.

Around January or February, the ring arrived and I had to personally pick it up at the company office. Once I arrived, it took forever for the saleswomen to actually find my ring. But eventually, that annoying ring was finally in my hands. I opened the box to see what it looked like and it was shiny and really big. I was about to close the box and leave, but the saleswomen said: "Aren't you going to try that on to make sure that the size is ok?" I said: "why not? I am stuck with this ring anyway, why not try it on?" So I took the ring out of the box and I tried it on.

The moment the ring was on my finger, I became invisible and everything around me looked shadowy and somewhat blurry. I could see the saleswomen freaking out and yelling my name to look for me. And then I saw this fiery eye on top of a tower and it started to talk in a weird language while it was watching me. I was sweating and starting to feel some kind of burning sensation. So I took the ring off and threw it across the room.

Just kidding, none of that Lord of the Rings stuff happened when I wore my ring. But I did feel a little bit different. I could finally sense that the end of High School was near and slowly approaching me. It was then that I realized that in a couple of months, I would be in college. The thought of that alone was making me nervous and sweaty. As I walked out of the store, I kept the ring on because I kinda liked how it felt around my finger. I was afraid I might lose this ring that my parents paid money for. So I decided to keep the ring on to make sure that I had it on my finger, rather than in some mystical place in my closet.

From that day on, I've somehow unconsciously begun to relate everything that had happened to me to the ring. Everything from good times to bad times to romantic times too silly times, my ring was there with me and everywhere I went, everything I've experienced began to associate with this ring that I hated so much.

A few months passed, and I was just surfing on Youtube, and I stumbled upon a clip from SNL titled "CNN Election Center Cold Open." And in it, Ted Cruz impersonator said "... and when I beat someone it hurts because I still wear my big ugly class ring. That is right, I am one of those guys." When I heard that I thought "so if I wear my class ring beyond a certain point, I become a weird nostalgic guy?" Since then, I took my ring off and placed it in the small box it came with and stored it in my closet. Just because some guy said wearing a class ring too long makes a person look like a douchebag, I took the ring that I loved off to be not labeled as a douchebag.

Things like this happen to us all the time. We are so afraid of being labeled, we constantly throw away what makes us unique and conform to what is socially acceptable. I mean following trends sound good, but just because everyone does it or has it or think that is normal, it doesn't mean that we have to be just like them, right? Just because we want to be liked, we gave away what is truly ours and adopted a fake persona, a mask that hides our true likeness, true beauty, and intelligence.

I know I have, and it hasn't really helped me to become more likable; it made me more awkward.

Me trying to "fit in" with everyone by trying to be like them has made me shop impulsively and go crazy when people in some way rejected me. I became materialized and shallow. I wanted more of this and more of that. I felt like if I had just this one thing, I would feel happy forever. But as soon as I got that thing, I was already looking at something else, desiring for more.

I am sure you've been in similar situation as I was a few months ago before and perhaps maybe you were obsessed with how people thought of you consciously or unconsciously. But on this Thanksgiving, when I've started to look back and count my blessings, I've recovered what I needed most: self-confidence. Because I had lost self-confidence, I began to conform. When I understood that wearing a class ring would make me weird, I was afraid of being a loser that everyone hated. So I took the ring off.

But this Thanksgiving, when I started to look back and count my blessings, I began to realize that it was me, my personality, my thoughts that brought me, friends and acquaintances. They ended up becoming friends or close acquaintances not because I had all these things that made me cool, but rather because of what I've said and what I've shown them. In the end, me trying to be more likable, cooler and socially acceptable was a silly act that I didn't need at all. So, since this Thanksgiving, I've decided to change how I think and act.

Back to present day, I occasionally wear my class ring to remember my good times and funny moments that I had shared with my friends, families and my significant other. Now, what others think of me didn't matter at all. So I do things my way: I wear my class ring to remember my good moments. I dress semi-formal because I feel comfortable in those clothes. I listen to classical music and oldies music because I like them better than today's hateful and deceitful songs. I am myself again.

I've decided to share this story to let you know that you are not the only one that feels pressured to do what others want you to do, rather than what you want to do. I am sure many of you felt embarrassed to do things you love to do in public because you were afraid that others that look at you might judge you and label you as a weird. But I am telling you that you are not alone and it is time for us to stop worrying about what others think about us. If famous people in the history were so worried about what others thought, how could they possibly changed the world that we live in? Right?

I know it is hard to just ignore other people judging and labeling you. But we have got to work step by step to ignore that to retain our unique characteristics, our unique personality. It is our uniqueness that makes us special and apart from everyone else. If we are meant to be same and conforming, why would we look different? Why would we behave differently and think differently? If we were meant to be identical, we might as well be clones. But we were formed, created to be similar yet different. We were meant to be relatable, but unique enough to bring changes and innovation.

So stop worrying about how you look, how you behave, how you talk, etc. and be yourself! Don't try to change yourself to meet the world's demands. Instead, change the world to meet your demands!