Individual

               When I was younger, my mother always told me to never judge a book by its cover, because you can never tell who or what you’re dealing with just by looking, you have to know about them. I’ve kept her words in mind, just in case I’d have to deal with something like that. Well here I am sixteen years old, and is currently going through social problems, especially at school. I've been through so much mess it's not even funny. Look at me rattling on like you already know who I am. My name is Unique, and this is my story. There’s a reason why my mother named me “Unique” because she knew that only I can live the life that I’d want to live, and also be the person that only I can be. My two best friends Serenity and Jazz know me from cover to cover, and that’s why we're close, because they didn’t judge me before they got the chance to know me. They were friendly, and I trust them completely. When I first met them, they came to me at the lunch table at school and started talking to me. I remember Serenity asking me, “Why are you sitting all by yourself?” I didn’t know what to say after that I guess I was too shy, but they came and sat with me and from that point on, I felt comfortable being around them.

                I love that my friends accept me for the person that I am, I just wish others would do the same. When I walk around in school, people look at me like I’m a weirdo or just a bad person, and it’s not fair for me to have to deal with that. I ask myself, “What did I do to them?” but there’s just no answer to that question.  I hate that I have to feel ashamed of my individual personality, it’s just not right! It all started in my freshman year in high school, and I was a new student during the second trimester. Of course I was afraid to go, but I was only being nervous of just being the new girl. When I came the first day, I noticed how socially awkward some of the girls were. See, the thing about me is that my style is very flamboyant, and obviously different. I live by my name, and I had no shame in my game. But others seemed to not understand that being different is okay. They automatically saw me as the weirdo of the school days after, and I just didn’t feel right at all. I’d wear my hair kinky and matted, homemade clothes were worn sometimes by my own creations, and I’d also wear homemade jewelry.  Basically vintage is the category my type of style is in. Girls looked at me like I was a bum like I didn’t belong there, and that I should’ve been living in a homeless shelter. I felt useless and ashamed of the person that I am, and sometimes I’d think to myself, “What purpose do I have on this Earth if people can’t accept me for the person that I am?” I remember I came home to my mother crying one day, and she gave me the talk about being different. The words she said, gave me more inspiration to add more pizzazz to my eccentricity, and I did.

The next day at school, I wore an outfit that blew everyone’s minds. My pants were the baggy Karl Kani* jeans that the guys wore in the nineties, and a homemade crop top my mother made for me along with a medallion of a peace sign around my neck. My earrings were gold hoops, and I wore my hair in an afro. Serenity and Jazz were impressed that I went ahead and expressed myself, and I felt no shame whatsoever. All the girls started looking at me like I was a superstar, and it felt really good to be accepted by everyone. I learned that it’s okay to be different because it makes you feel like a trendsetter, and there’s no one that can stop you from being you. Some people are still thinking different of me, but as long as I’m comfortable with who I am, I don’t care who judges me and doesn’t accept me for who I am, because at the end of it all, they’ll be the ones to fall back, and I’ll be moving ahead.

I am who I am...Unique.

  *Karl Kani (Karl-Kin-I)