Popularity:

The whole idea of being popular seems to be measured by how many friends you have or how many parties you get invited to. That's the problem...

Since I was a little girl, I have struggled finding friends. I was always the the straight A, overly competitive girl,  who won at everything- kind of annoying, yes, but I was little :) As a result, the few friends I did have tended to be boys. When I hit middle school, having friends that were boys started to mean that you were dating. It may seem stupid, but this set the platform for my high school years and the idea that I was different, an outcast.

Towards the end of middle school, popularity began to mean to me much more than it should have. I began to change my appearance and behavior all in an effort to fit in. I desperately wanted to be normal. As this state of mind set in, I started to settle for the easiest "friends" I could find.  I put up with abusive girls for months just so I could maintain a high social status. I thought it meant something.

It wasn't until recently that I realized how stupid I was. I found 3 girls who began to reintroduce me to who I really was. They accepted me for me, and refused to let me see myself as inferior. Although we don't always see eye to eye, these girls are by far the best friends I could ever ask for.

 High school is rough. There always seems to be a caste system and half the time you are trying to figure out where you belong. Are you a geek, mathlete, athlete? The list goes on and on. People make it seem like you have to choose a category, but that's  where they are sadly mistaken. You can be many different things!

The truth is, in real life, popularity doesn't mean anything. You have to learn to work with all personality types or you will never be successful. As girls mature, many become independent. They begin to think for themselves.  JUST WAIT! You may be an "outcast" now, but in the end, all of the other "outcasts" will form one big group; one that is much bigger than any of the "popular" groups.

Popularity isn't measured by  number of "friends" you have, but by quality of the people you surround yourself with. Those who degrade you will seem useless, but those who pick you up when you fall down, are your true friends.


*MER*   ❤ you guys