This I Believe

by Savannah France

I believe in believing in yourself, being yourself, and never judging or excluding others because you never know what they’ve been through. We all like to pretend we are “normal”, that we fit in. And some of us are good actors. People act like they’ve never had anything embarrassing happen to them, or they’ve never done anything completely stupid or weird. But as perfect as their lives may seem, they’re not. Nobody’s perfect or normal. We’re all crazy, some people just hide it because they’re scared. They’re afraid of rejection. They’re afraid of not being “cool” or whatever. The truth is everyone’s a little scared. Even I am. But I believe in being brave enough to be different and stand out, even if you have to stand alone.

Last year In the middle of sixth grade I moved to a new city. I’ve moved many times before so I knew how it went. The first day everyone is interested in you and they all ask  you to hang out with them then you choose someone and you’re stuck, they next day everyone has forgotten and you either stick with what you got or you just keep changing groups till you fit in. I unfortunately I  got stuck. I was in the wrong group the whole year and I felt I couldn’t even be myself. I’m generally pretty loud, wild, and and free, but this group didn’t really appreciate that. I was hiding behind their image, and I wasn’t even being my own self. I was just on of the girls in that group. Not being yourself is like being prisoner in your own body. Hiding from yourself, you are still there but your soul is locked up deep down inside screaming and struggling, trying to get out. Not being yourself is miserable. So many days I cried all alone in my room, looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. But then the school year finally ended and I was me again.  When I came to Junior High I promised myself I would not make the same mistake again. This year I moved throughout many groups, which was really hard because I was alone many times, but I eventually found the perfect group for me. I can just be my crazy self, and I love them so much for that. I believe in believing in yourself, being yourself, and never judging or excluding others because you never know what they’ve been through.