Cliques + Courage

I'm not part of any clique exclusively, I hang out with whoever I choose to. I also try to judge a person on their personality and character, not who they're friends with. My only wish is that everyone would extend the same courtesy to me, that they do not stereotype me by the people I hang out with or the way I look. Though, this is often exactly what happens. People assume that because I dyed my hair that I must do drugs, that is like saying that just because you're a republican you're political views are intelligent, it is just not true. In fact when making assumptions like these they are often times the opposite of the truth. People make these assumptions because they want to be able to put you in a box that they can understand, rather than try to understand, or even accept, the person you are.

I believe that there are many definitions of true courage, that different people have different definitions. My definition of courage is doing the right thing even when it is hard to do. This is one reason I admire my sister. Throughout her two years at APHS my sister was harassed by certain teachers because of the way she looked and her non-conformist attitude. While most people would have been worn away by this harassment, my sister didn't change to these teachers' ideas of what a student should look like and how they should act. She stuck through for two years of high school until she and my family finally came to the conclusion that she should get her GED. My sister did this and also took a college art class. Such a path might have been looked down upon by many, but I believe that this was the right thing to do in my sister's case. Also, because this path is looked down upon I believe it took courage for my sister to do this knowing she would be judged and stereotyped for it, and that it was a far better choice than letting some tyrannical teacher tell her who to be.