The sun beamed unflinchingly, filling the air with dreaded humidity as I made my Tuesday errands. I began the morning with various songs from legends like Sam Cooke, Etta James, Mademoiselle Kitt and, of course, Mr. Cab Calloway. As the day proceeded, my music selection narrowed down to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” Tears for Fears and various songs from Paramore. That day was the day I began a job I wasn’t sure I wanted.

Yes, I am talking about an actual job. Mind you, I have recently adopted the title of a full-time student. The term adopt is used purposefully, being that adoption is also very expensive, time-consuming, potentially draining but all the while worth it in the long run.

I swore up and down I would never work in food service again. Thankfully, I am working in a burger joint.

The job is not difficult. In fact, the only difficulty I had was the huge likelihood I would go home smelling like beef. I came to terms with it… slowly. It’s not exactly the most ideal fragrance.

College is such an interesting concept. High school is like riding a bike with training wheels except somehow you still manage to fall over, repeatedly — and oh yes, occasionally the bike is on fire,  and it’s constantly shooting down a hill, a steep hill like those in Athens, Ohio.

College is like riding a bike without training wheels, with your parents behind you pushing both literally and figuratively. Of course you can imagine when a child is learning to ride a bike they are very wobbly in the beginning and have probably fallen and cried a little. That is college.

I surprisingly haven’t cried. My tear duct well has run dry, with the exception of saying goodbye to my younger brother (it’s his fault I cried).

Anyway, college is mainly different in the fact that you can’t get through it alone. In high school, you could be as anti-social as your heart desired and coast with comfortable grades.

Whereas in college, there’s no way at all to pass without a support system, whether it be classmates, professors or family. My absolute favorite part about college is the opportunity to be different. In high school, you are labelled and no matter what; you are stuck with that label. I, for example, was always the quiet girl.

That title amuses me now knowing the reason I was quiet was not in fact normal at all. I have anxiety, and it was not until I got medicine and counseling that I realized how bad my condition was. I thought it was normal to be afraid to move in public places. By that, I mean I would sit in the same spot for hours at a time, terrified of the large crowd before me. I wouldn’t talk and I wouldn’t eat no matter how hungry I was — I’d just sit.

Now that I have broken old habits and am taking care of myself, I have set out to be different. I used to be afraid of standing out. Now, I thrive off of it. I purposefully write with my complicated script handwriting, openly miss my typewriter and record player and spell out my name at Starbucks. The last one does not seem that important, but after living a life where so long so many people have told me who I am and who I should be it is VERYimportant. I am who I am, and that’s that. People will learn my name, and I won’t be defined any other way than what I am.

So go stand out, be yourself, do that awkward weird thing that you love andDON’T apologize for it. The world needs people that aren’t afraid to be bold.