Simone

All the people I am not:

I am not the person who finished and submitted all of their college applications weeks ago and now only has to focus on the mundane busywork offered by the first semester of senior year. It is OK that I am not this person, because maybe they will think of or do something truly amazing just before their application is due, and they will not be able to add these elements to the selling of themselves. I will, because there is a likely chance I will be submitting my application the night before it is due.

I am not the person who has 8,500 followers on Instagram because of their very nice skin and hair, and distinctive facial beauty. It is OK that I am not this person, because it would maybe feel impersonal to be recognized for something as arbitrary as my outward appearance. Also, having an underwhelming adolescence builds character and makes you relatable in conversation at adult parties later on.

I am not the person who is always clothed in dreams. (Instead, I am riding a bike taxi across town with three passengers and no bra or shirt. I am hiding in a closet at a party, my underwear somewhere on the ground in the room set before me. I have shown up to school naked.) It is OK that I am not this person, because I think sweating in your sleep is very detoxifying, and there is nothing that results in keener alertness than being violently awoken from a nightmare.

These are not all the people I am not, but writing eight billion paragraphs would be very tiring. ♦