- Social Distancing Now
- I’ve only seen my dad cry one time
- The Golden Frame
- Hidden Agressions
- The Importance of Family
- Environmental Progression
- Taking Risks
- The Only Way to Do Good Work is to Love What You Do
- Fate
- Emotional Strength
- Hard Work Pays Off
- This I Believe Andrew
- Where would I be without music?
- The Need for Free College Education
- I Believe in Laughter
- Differences Should be Accepted and Celebrated
- The Value of Education
- Looking Past the Surface
- Fight for your success
- Is it Morally Right that the American Culture is accustomed to Nursing Homes?
- Should we really take a knee?
- Unity Is The Key
- Don’t Let Peer Pressure Persuade your Opinions and Beliefs
- Life’s a Game to Love
- Homework is just basically stress…
- Friendship is Key
- Relaxation: The Best Mindset
- Controlling Happiness
- Seeking America’s Opportunity
- Persistence is the Key to Success
- Happiness is a Choice
- The Unabridged American Dream
- Failures Cause Success
- The Inescapable Effects Of Discovery
- Animal Cruelty
- The Fear of Change Halts Progress
- Hard Work and Dedication Can Beat Natural Talent
- I Believe America Is The Greatest Nation On Earth Because Of The Constitutional Freedoms It Gives
- The Key To Success
- The Power of Change
- United by Differences
- Listen to Yourself
- My Reminder to Never Give Up
- Family Value
- Ideas from Within
- Descrimination Thru My Lens
- Decisions
- Lets Talk About The Homeless..
- Equality
- Life and Loss
- Positive Mind
- Comfort Zones
- You are worth so much
- Creativity
- You Attract What You Think
- Family Comes first
- Be Comfortable In Your Own Body
- Family Comes First
- It’s Not Always Forgive and Forget
- You Have To Own Who You Are
- Karma
- Designer Clothes
- Everything Happens For a Reason
- The Influence of Expectations
- To Be Or Not To Be (Nice)
- Hard Work and Me
- Music is the Most Important Artform
- Positive Energy
- Everyone has Opportunity
- You Have the Power
- Respect
- Be Who You Are
- Increased Discrimination Against Hispanics
- I Believe in Respect
- This I Believe “Iron Edge”
- The Importance of Mental Toughness
- This I Believe : Haiti
- The Value of a Safe Place
- I believe in free thought
- I Believe That Variety Is Necessary For a Healthy Life
- I Believe in Sharing Your Voice
- I believe that it’s important that we use our words to be kind
- I Believe in Family
- I believe the Organ is the King of Instruments
- Integrity is key
- I Believe Hard Work Accomplishes Goals
- Animals are our friends – This I believe
- I believe in equal opportunity
- I Believe Failure is a Good Thing
- Highest Calling
- The Importance of Creativity
- Equal Opportunity
- History Defines
- Chicano Pride
- Respect
- Overcoming Obstacles to Achieve Your Dream
Everyone is special. I know this may sound incredibly cliché, but it’s true. Have you ever met two separate people who are exactly the same? My guess is that you haven’t. This is because every single person is different from each other in their own different way, both physically and mentally. Most people know this and generally accept this as true, but despite this, our society expects us to “fit in” and “be normal.” We’re supposed to conform to certain standards, and if you don’t, well, you’re not as good as everyone else. This pressure to conform can be really hard on a person, especially teenagers. Since we’re still discovering who we are as people, this pressure can be detrimental to our confidence and happiness. I believe that everyone should be able to be their own unique self and feel safe to express themselves without being worried about what others may think.
I am very lucky when it comes to having a safe place to express myself. I have the best friends who I can be completely myself around, and I have a loving and supportive family. The thing is, some people don’t necessarily have that luxury. They don’t have a community where they feel safe to completely express themselves and therefore feel as though they have to hide their true identities. I don’t think that’s fair. I don’t think it’s fair that we have to deal with these pressures of fitting in. Pressures that can cause issues like depression or anxiety to develop or worsen in us. Pressures that can cause us to think less of ourselves or to have less confidence in ourselves. The fear of “not being good enough” is something that many of us have today, and is something that I believe needs to be changed in our world.
So how do we go about changing this? We’ve established that societal pressures of “being normal” are not a good thing, but it’s not like we can create a perfect world with a snap of our fingers. So where do we begin? Well we should start by being more accepting towards others. You may not agree with someone about something, and that’s ok, but listen to what they have to say. Someone might be a bit different from you, and that’s ok, just respect who they are, and maybe if you get to know them, you might learn something. We could learn so much from each other if we just listened and collaborated together. So much progress could be made in the world if we learned how to respectfully work with one another, and not insist that your opinion is the only one that matters. No one is normal and no one has to be normal to be an amazing person. If we all learned that, I believe that we could make our world a better and happier place.
