The Importance of Conformity by Collin

The Importance of Conformity by Collin - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

As I approach my final year of high school, these past few weeks of summer seem more stressful than ever. Facing down college applications and somewhat of an unsure future in the great halls of academia, I find myself reminiscing about my freshman year, and the carefree days of aimless youth, where college and jobs seemed like distant tasks only to be handled after passing the trials and tribulations of high school. I'll never forget my first day of high school; the bright overhead lights of the cafeteria, the squeak of new shoes passing over the gray linoleum, and the laughter of upperclassmen as they looked upon our scared, apprehensive faces. How freshmen and sophomore year seem like distant memories already. Looking back, at the people I've met or the things I've learned, I can truthfully say that the most valuable thing I learned in high school was not in a classroom. I did not obtain it from a teacher. I did not read it in a book. I could talk one's ear off about contentions and Middle Eastern geography and American life during the Great Depression and even how to pass the AP Test over English Language and Composition. But, the most important thing I learned in high school is something that I could not merely tell you. It would be something I would have to teach. It would be something that I would say to my little brother or little sister as they begin their freshman year. And I believe I would say something like this: "I'm not gonna lie. High school is rough. You're gonna lose friends. You're gonna get new ones. One day you're going to wake up and look at yourself in the mirror and you're not going to like what you see. And don't play into this stuff about being yourself and following your own way. Because you don't even have a way yet. You may think you do, but all that will change. Don't be yourself this year, because you honestly don't know yourself. Not yet. For now, dress like everyone else, talk like everyone else, and learn to like what they like. Because individualism, today, in the world we live in, is overrated. Conform, for now, Go with the flow, and you won't make any waves. And, when you're ready, and you will know, only then can you step out of the shadow. Being yourself is the most imporant thing in life. But your life has not begun yet. You're just starting high school. So for now, don't be you."