[be you]

"If you had to give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?" I asked.

"What age group?"

I paused. "Good question. I'll let you decide that."

"I've always said if I ever had the opportunity to talk to people that were going in to high school, I would tell them to be yourself, and do not pretend to be someone that you're not. It makes life so much easier. Especially for me, it took me until senior year to realize that people don't like who I'm not, they like who I am. When I finally I got college, I was like, 'This is what it's supposed to be like.' So whenever I do talk to people going into high school, I tell them that. I'm like 'PLEASE be yourself,' and they're like 'What?' and I'm like 'I'm serious, this is my real advice! You have to be yourself.' It's just too much to try to be someone else."

"Who were you pretending to be?"

"I just pretended like I was happy no matter what. If someone made fun of me, I said it was no big deal, but really it hurt. And so I would just try to act like I knew what people were talking about, and tried to fit in. I tried to be the sarcastic, hilarious person that everyone thinks is funny so they want to keep them around, but I really just didn't fit in with any of those people."

"Who are you really?"

"I am...that's a really good question. I am extremely outgoing, I love meeting people, talking to anyone that I can...it's to the point now, and I just love this, that when I'm walking around on campus people don't like to walk with me because I know so many people. They feel like losers! I'm like, 'Well, I'm sorry!' My friend looked at me yesterday and goes, 'I'm just the appendage.' I was like, 'What?!' That's the best thing I've ever heard!"