Labels–that’s the first thing that goes through my mind when I think about high school. I’m sitting on this chair in this bright and open room thinking about what I’m going to write and how I should explain what I’m about to say, but I’m also thinking of one other thing: clothes. Clothes was what I was thinking about. 

When it comes down to labels and society nowadays teens have to dress the way they think would make them look good, look prettier. A lot of girls, I guess you can say like me, think of how we should dress for others to look at us in a specific way. Labels kind of define our high school life. I often ask myself this question, “what label am I to other people when they look at me?” Am I a vsco girl? A basic white girl? A pick-me girl?

I once asked this friend of mine that I recently made and I said, “What kind of label am I?” She simply said, “You’re Amy.” I’m my own kind of person. Some might say that I want attention, or I’m just basic, or I’m just me. That made me rethink about wanting other people’s validation or to know if I’m simply good enough for them.

Validation was what I always wanted from other people; I would be asking myself a lot of times if I was good enough to be pretty like those girls we see at school. The ones that wear ripped jeans, white converse high-tops or vans and flowy shirts. I do have siblings that are all boys, and I would ask them for their opinion and what label category I would be in. Now, I ask myself for validation, not other people because I gave myself a label–I am my own person. 

When I walk by the hallways people look at me. To be honest I get nervous; I’m not sure whether or not to look back at them or to look at the floor or look at a random object while walking past them. Now I just look at them back, I tell myself not to get nervous because they’re just another person that I don’t even know.

There will always be people who will get labels, whether or not they’re popular, a loner, an athlete, etc. I guarantee that there’s at least one person who looks at you and thinks “oh, she’s probably a pick-me girl just desperate for attention” or something like that. There are also a lot of people that would wish to be you, you never know. Sometimes they will envy what you have that they don’t have. Labels are just a small part of society no matter where you go.