In high school I was always looked over… metaphorically and literally. I was shorter which made me less visible in crowded hallways, and I was super quiet which lead to less confrontation and much less unnecessary drama. I was totally fine with not being well known among my peers; it made my already complex life a little simpler. My mother, on the other hand, thought that I should try to stand out more. She wanted me to show people that I was there and that I had a lot more to me than my reserved nature. I’m not sure exactly what she had in mind, but somehow I had come to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to fold my socks together anymore.

From that day on, I never wore matching socks. I didn’t say a word to any of my friends about this, but eventually they all noticed. As I took off my shoes for dance practice they would all look down at my feet and simply ask me “Do you know that your socks don’t match?” I’d just look back at them, smile, and say “Yeah.” It became an everyday thing; my friends would now push up my pant legs just to see my socks. I started buying the most obnoxious socks that I could find in the stores; I had socks with all kinds of animals, neon socks that almost hurt your eyes, and I’d even wear Christmas and Halloween socks together on Valentines Day.

I realize that mismatching socks doesn’t really make a person stand out, but I wanted to be an individual and keep my position under the radar at the same time. I’m proud to say that I succeeded in doing so. I figured that the people worth knowing would find me, even though I was hard to see. I had individuality inside of my shoes and that was all I needed.

I still mismatch my socks everyday but I’ve changed a whole lot since I was in high school. I now embrace my individuality; I’m not ashamed to be different and a little bit crazy. The people I surround myself with know that if they need a laugh all they have to do is watch me for about a minute; I’m bound to do something completely out of the ordinary.