Plastics-Andrew

 On one of our many road-trips to the Great North, the winter of my freshman year, my family stopped at a hotel in upstate New York. A snowstorm raged outside and my parents exhaustion had caught them as intensely as the storm. So  we stayed, trapped only a few hours from our destination. My brother and I occupied ourselves with submerging ourselves in the frigid pool and then the jacuzzi. During one of our respites, I opened up to my brother about high school anxiety. His response, in all his senior wisdom, is the only piece of high school advice that stuck with me. "Nobody cares about you in high school." It was not a heart warming gesture, but it was liberating. Over the years I've been able to shed my preoccupation with allowing others opinions to sway me. My interests have grown, as have I as a person, because I've allowed myself to explore things that don't connotate any sort of identity. In turn, I've tried to rid myself of the judgments on others that I abhor being placed upon me. Surrounding myself with people who are comfortable themselves and distancing myself from those obsessed with image and reputation has allowed me to explore parts of the world I never would have otherwise. I'm still far from removed of all judgement, but it's still something I strive for. From a gelid pool, the sauna is just as sweet, even if you haven't reached it yet.