Starting from the first day of elementary school, everyone around you will seem very similar to you. It won’t matter if the person to your left plays soccer or if the person to your right is a musician, everyone seemingly gets along. At least that’s how I perceived it as a kid. Growing up me and all of my friends liked the same shows, laughed at the same jokes, liked to go to the same restaurants. Going into middle school, that begins to change though. Some of my friends were football players and only talked to kids who played sports. Some of my friends did drama and only talked with other drama kids. I watched some people I grew up with most of my life stop talking to each other due to their different interests. I felt like an outlier though, I never had a strong passion for anything. I loved history but I also loved tennis. I loved football but I also loved theatre. I had no idea where I fit in.

As I went into High-School I felt much the same. For my 3 years of High School currently I’ve played 4 sports and joined 5 different clubs. All of them unique from each other. I have had varying experiences in everything I’ve done. I have found one major thing in common though. Everyone likes to feel included and important in the things they do, a lot of people feel the need to change who they are to make sure they are “included”.

Especially as we go into Men’ s History Month and Pride month, it is extremely important that everyone feels that they are allowed to express themselves freely. No matter what you do, always remember to be yourself.