My Favorite Mistake

What is a mistake really? Most of us like to think a mistake is something that went wrong, something we should fix. But sometimes, just sometimes, a mistake can be what went right.

Freshman year of highschool is one hell of a thing. It’s a vicious rollercoaster that’ll spin you around and toss you in the most unexpected direction. For me, fitting in has always been kind of tough and not that it is important in any way but it’s just nice to be liked by people. In 9th grade I was sort of new because I had spent all of 8th grade year at a different school so when I came back I was behind on what all of my old friends were up to.

Most of my old friends had changed dramatically either in looks or the way they acted. It was almost as if they thought that being in highschool meant acting like you’re too cool for anything was the way to be. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t this outcast who was alienated from the class, i still hung out with my buds but I just didn’t understand the way they were. So I did anything anybody would do, I adapted (or at least tried to). I listened to their music, participated in their recreational activities, and even tried dressed like them. It was fun for a while until I noticed that this was all they ever did and it became boring very fast.

Toward the end of freshman year i just said ‘screw it’. I’d rather listen to my own different music, dress my own goofy way, and speak my own crazy mind than be a part of a repetitive and ineffectual race. I decided to be myself; however, let me just say that this was the best damn ‘mistake’ I have ever made. The only reason i call it a mistake is because people kind of reacted weird to it, sort of like seeing a new species at the zoo. Some actually liked it and some were just disgusted and to that i say, good, be disgusted.

I don’t think for a minute that i am the only kid who has done this, in fact some people probably have way cooler stories about coming out and just showing the world who they really are, but i still like to think that my story is at least kind of special. The thing about not going with the crowd is that everybody handles it differently, for me it took some courage but for others it might have been just like a flick of a switch.

One of the most important lessons that I have learned from this is that over time people sort of become numb to you and everything seems to go back to normal. You go through the day except this time you don’t feel all uncomfortable about your surroundings, like Peter Parker transforming into Spider-Man, you know how awesome you are even though nobody knows it.

If you’re going to be yourself don’t be “that guy” or girl who just has to be different to prove a point, it’s kind of annoying. Also, there’s really no description of what yourself looks like so don’t think that you have to dress in a clown costume just to be yourself. Do the things you like, talk to the people who interest you the most, and always remember that no matter what people say they really cannot change what is inside.