In regards to uniformity, I feel like the opinion of popular culture is constantly changing. For so long we told everyone that there is one way to be beautiful or successful or cool, but now we as a society are embracing what makes an individual different. But what if you aren’t different? What if you don’t have any identifier that is uniquely yours? Are you still special?

I feel like so many people spend their lives trying to find what makes them unique or different. It seems like some people are just born with these characteristics. Maybe it’s a really interesting hobby or unique hair type or a strong identification with a specific culture or religion. Some people just have that one thing that defines their personality and identifies them as  unique people.

Then there are people like me: white bread, middle class, vaguely European with no one heritage large enough to claim. I’m just a young woman living in a city with a dog, working in the field of communications. It doesn’t get any more white bread than that. For a long time I struggled with the fact that I wasn’t as unique as some of my other friends. This desire pushed me to try out a lot of different styles and personalities.

For a while I just decided to be weird. When other girls were shopping at Abercrombie, I was shopping at Hot Topic. I liked Batman and the Joker and Broadway musicals. I got really into drama and robotics and I wanted to be an individual...until I got too weird and then all I wanted was Taylor Swift and American Eagle jeans. I want to be edgy, weird and a little dangerous. But I also wanted to be prim, proper and traditionally beautiful.

College is a time where exploration of one’s identity is encouraged. But upon entering the workforce, even in an open work environment like mine, there are certain expectations of uniformity that are imposed upon everyone. Beyond that, social media perpetuates certain ideals, standards and rituals that encourage us all to strive for one uniform way of life.

For young people, the concept of uniformity is challenging because there are some voices that are telling them that they need to be like everyone else to fit in, while other voices tell them they need to be unique and stand out. This will always be a difficult path to navigate, but the one thing to remember is that most importantly you need to be the version of yourself that makes you happy. If you are happy being unique and standing out that’s great, but it’s also great if you like doing things that others do as well. At the end of the day the most important thing is your own happiness.

                                                      - Bria