Dare to Defy by Cadence

Dare to Defy by Cadence - May 2022 Scholarship Essay

When I was younger my parents would dictate everything that I was allowed to wear to school. Every piece of clothing that I wanted to buy would have to be approved by them. Every outfit I wanted to wear to school or out into public they had to approve before I left the house. As a teenager this really crippled my sense of individuality and my confidence in school, because I was uncomfortable in what I was wearing. I acted like how my friends acted, liked what they liked and never did anything that I wanted. I followed them and became who they wanted to be their friends and not what kind of friend I wanted to be.

Overall this first started out as a familial circumstance and it was just my parents dictating what I should wear. But it eventually turned into me becoming a person I never wanted to be and giving up certain things I loved because my friends made fun of me for them. I eventually hated the person that I became because it wasn’t who I wanted to be and it wasn’t how I wanted to be treated.
When I first started breaking away and not caring what my parents thought about how I dressed and started expressing myself how I wanted to, I became the person I always wanted to be. The person that I was confident being and the person that I enjoyed being.

As a middle child as well I was subjected to the legacy and preferences of my older sister. My parents would hold me to their expectations and if they did well in a class then I had to as well. If they didn't like a teacher then I wasn't allowed in their class. It eventually evolved in to them believing that my sisters preferences were my own. That if she liked something than I automatically liked it without knowing what it was even if I didn't. It turned into that if she could do it and if she like it then I was had to and was expected to. If I didn't then I could get yelled at for not being open to trying it when I clearly didn't like it.

Contrary to what some people believe, social media actually helped me to express myself and become more vocal to my parents. I saw others defying stereotypes, standing up for what they believed and being who they were in public regardless of what others thought of them. It was then I realized that if they can do it so can I. They helped me realize that it doesn’t matter what others think as long as I am ok with who I am. Now I don’t care what my parents think and if they don’t approve of the way that I dress, how I act and who I like I ignore them and continue being who I want to be.