I Am an Individual
Throughout my life I have always been an individual. While creating art, writing stories, and in school, I
was always doing my own thing. Growing up and living in the same town for years has obviously influenced me. From hearing the Metro train bells every morning, to seeing familiar faces walk across the street, my location has shaped me to be the person that I am.
In elementary school, most people knew me because my mom worked at the school and I was pretty good at
art. Since so many people associated me with just those two things, I began to do the same. It wasn't until a few years later, that I realized I was more than that.
I remember in kindergarten, there was an art project in class where we were supposed to use one solid color to
inspire us. I ended up using all the colors and my teacher chastised me for not following the directions. That moment in a way traumatized me into truly believing that it was wrong to be different. It's those little moments from my life that remind me to never want to do what everyone else does, just because everyone else is doing it.
Even if I wanted to be the same as everyone else, I couldn't. I have always been different from others because I
have two moms. It always seemed normal to me and I didn't understand why some people thought it was odd. Although I was never bullied about it, many kids would constantly ask me how I had two moms and wouldn't believe me when I explained it. Some kids even tried to convince me that I was adopted. I do admit that it did sometimes frustrate me, but it taught me an important lesson that not every person could understand and accept anyone different from themselves. Having such an open mindset while being so young definitely let me be an individual. I know to never be unoriginal, with my artwork being so important to me. My artwork reflects my life, my feelings, and my experiences. I'm the only me and no one could ever take that away from me. I still strongly believe that it's so important for kids to not shy away from doing their own thing. Being an individual is beyond being different, being an individual is accepting your unique differences and living your life the way you want.
