Stereotypes Of Today

What we do today will determine who we are tomorrow. How society portrays us will define us towards everyone else, except our true selves. We live in a world where, if you don’t graduate from high school you fall under the label stupid. Where, if you are pregnant at 16 you fall under the label of a girl who couldn’t keep her legs closed. Where, if you graduate and have a career and travel the world and go above and beyond you are considered a smart, rich, and successful person. But what we do not know is that the boy who dropped out of high school had to help his parents with money. The girl who got pregnant by 16 was sexually abused. Society has taught us that our actions and decisions represent who we are. But, in reality we have the power

I sat down in my usual seat in that class and studied our guest speaker. He was tall,slim, and was a nice tan color.I still remember how that classroom was so colorful, happy, quotes all over the place, and it even smells like fruity pebbles to this day. “We can let society label us, if that is what YOU want.’’ I looked around the classroom, what does society have to do with this. “We fall under it drowning ourselves with the things society tells us to be and that we have to be that specific thing.’’ I still wasn’t understanding what he was talking about and I looked at my other teacher Mrs. Schutter (who is now Mrs.Mendoza) and she smiled at me. I gave her a smile back and turned to look at the board. “We can make our own footsteps to be who we want to be or we could follow someone else’s footsteps to be what they want us to be.’’ The guest speaker then called on me. “You. What do YOU want to be? Not what someone wants you to be.’’ I cracked my knuckles and moved my toe’s. “Ummm… I want to be a….ummmm….’’ He gave me a small smile. “Okay. What do people want you to be?’’ I shrugged. “My mom wants me to be a nurse. My dad wants me to be a doctor. The rest want me to be a lawyer or a businesswoman.” He nodded his head and bought his finger to his chin. All that was going through my head was please go away or call on another person, but no, he continued, with me. Out of all the 32 kids in my class, he kept picking on me. “What did you want to be when you were little?’’ I didn’t

Here I am now in Santa Teresa High School maintaining my grades above a C and trying my hardest. My anxiety doesn’t get to me as much anymore since I don’t get stressed out since it’s bad for my health. Who am I? I’m Nataly and I got lost along the way trying to find out who I really was since I let society tell me what to be even if that meant it doesn’t satisfy me. I’m still growing up, but I am no good soccer player nor am I straight A student right now. I’m still trying to find my way, I’d rather do it alone without having to follow someone’s footsteps or having a label across my head. I’ve found myself, but I’m just not there yet, I’m not far