What's wrong with just being you?

It's funny how much you change after high school, even if it doesn't seem obvious. In some ways I haven't changed at all, in others I've become unrecognizable to myself, but in a good way.

I've always been into things that are considered "geeky," or "nerdy." For example, superheros, video games, books, and anime. To me these things aren't weird, they're just things that are a part of a long list of stuff I love along with the United Kingdom, frappes, and music. They're simply my interests that make me part of who I am.

In high school I never acted like myself. I was always afraid to be myself because I didn't want people to think I was weird for the things that I liked. Looking back, I doubt many people would care that I love Batman and that most of my favorite movies are about superheroes. They would just shrug and say, "cool." When you're that age though, you assume everyone will judge you for anything. At least I did and that was incredibly stupid of me.

I think the biggest problem was the group of people I chose to hang out with. To my friends at that time if I started to go on about a superhero they'd just look at me weird or make fun of me. To them that was seen as lame and nerdy. To a lot of people it seems that way and because of that I wouldn't talk about the things that I loved. I would just talk more about clothes or music. Granted, I do love that stuff too but the thing was I wasn't letting out my whole personality. I kept quiet so my friends at the time wouldn't find more things to criticize me about. The sad thing was I couldn't even  talk about my music all the time because none of them liked it and thought I was weird for my music taste as well. That was because I don't like "popular" songs. I hate a lot of the songs you constantly hear on the radio. Give me some Good Charlotte or All Time Low and I'm happy.

Also, I didn't care if they liked a certain type of music or movie because that's what made them unique. In the end I tried to hide myself in order to hold on to people, who in the end, weren't worth holding onto and had no desire to hold onto me. Now that I have different friends and I'm out of high school I feel like I can finally just be me. Even if who I am is a geeky dork. It's okay, because once you stop pretending to fit in you find people who like the real you. That alone is one of the greatest things you can have.