Every child, upon entering middle school, has many goals in mind: get good grades, make new friends, and most of all: fit in. Don’t stand out and don’t do anything that will make you be bullied. Girls wear all the same brands, boys buy all the same shoes, and everyone loses a bit of their individuality.

However, high school is a completely different story. In a school such as ours, of 3,000, it may be hard to stand out to the entire school; however, the plethora of clubs, sports, and other activities allow students who may have blended into the crowd in middle school to find new passions and hobbies to make them completely different from their partner in math class.

Yes, there are always trends and brands that will be more popular than others, and will be popular among many teens. However, if you look just a bit closer, you will soon see that every person has extremely different things to offer, whether that is musically, artistically, psychically, or mentally.

Personally, I am a theater geek. During the play and musical seasons, I am constantly surrounded by people who absolutely adore theater, and it’s one of their true passions in life. Looking at each person and what they have to offer to a role or production, and how they differ from the person who auditioned before them, is astounding. There are a hundred different ways to deliver a line, and a thousand different ways to act out a scene, and each person that goes onto the stage brings a new, unique aspect to the production.

Artists are some of the most unique and individual people there are; every painting or drawing they create is one completely from their own mind. Their creativity is never ending. They always strive to be different than anybody else, to stand out among the crowd, with designs and colors that speak to other individuals. Artists, as in singing, are extremely individualistic as well. Although most people will say that “all pop sounds the same” or “all country sounds the same,” it does not. Every person has a story of their own, and emotions that they let out into beautifully sad songs, or hard, loud rock songs. Much like art, music affects people in a million different ways, and the fact that people have diverse tastes in music shows how different they are.

Every national sports team is a true testament to individualism. The way humans excel in sports- breaking records no one thought possible, showing incredible strength and perseverance through intense games- fully separates them from anybody else in their sport. Athletes are constantly breaking boundaries and showing what it actually means to put your entire 150% into anything you do. They are truly living out their passions, and showing the best part of themselves.

The most important part of any human-besides the heart- is the brain. The brain holds much more than old vocab words and quotes from your favorite movie. It holds all of your memories, emotions, and thoughts. It has a different way of thinking than anybody else; it does not work for anybody else, it is something that is 100% you. That alone makes humans all unique amongst each other.

Even if you aren’t a “jock” or a “geek”, a musician or a painter, there are still things about you that make you, you: your stories, experiences, ambitions, and goals all separate you from anybody else. The “fear” of Americans, or any person from any country, losing their individuality and just becoming one with the crowd, is ridiculous. Nobody can take away the identity you have within yourself, as long as you let what your passions and goals for yourself are blossom and thrive.