Lately I’ve come to realize how ephemeral everything is, how fleeting life is and hence how untruthful I have been to myself -- because I have spent so much time worrying about every single action and interaction I had with anyone at the school, because I have spent so much time thinking and overthinking what will people think about me. Will they think I am pathetic? That I’m boring? What about my body? My legs, are they too thick? Should I be wearing these leggings or should I wear sweats instead? This whole time I’ve spent shaping myself towards what I thought people would like. Nevertheless, what truly happened was that I limited myself from meaningful experiences. I limited myself from going out and meeting people, all because I feared they wouldn’t like me or because I just didn’t want to spend energy in pretending to be someone else, so instead I stayed in what I thought was safe… And honestly it is SO EXHAUSTING.

 

It is SO exhausting, it is suffocating to constantly attempt to prove myself to others. And I hate these thoughts SO much; they are so harmful, because no one really needs to prove anything to anyone. And I personally think that in our society right now we are all infected by this mindset and this need to prove ourselves to others. We don’t need to! We don’t need more followers, we don’t need more yes-people or people pleasers. We need REAL people, and most importantly, we need to become REAL people for ourselves, because the truth is, nothing is really that deep, and in the end no one cares. That may sound terrible, but I believe it’s on you to see the glass half empty or half full and take this opportunity to do things on your own, for yourself, and as yourself.

 

For this reason, today, I want to you take this speech to remind you that we are still early into the school year, so go… be real, be yourself. Go do whatever pleases you (with good sense obviously),  but what I really mean is go run to the middle of the field and scream as loud as possible, go spin in circles like a kid, go dance, go eat that bowl of pasta you’ve been craving. And say whatever you’ve been holding onto, say your opinion, tell your friends you cherish them, tell THAT person you love them, and even, sometimes, tell THAT other person to shut up, which is also fair. It is also fair to have bad days and want to just grab your pillow and scream your lungs out or punch a wall (do not actually punch a wall… I’m being dramatic here). And please, don’t forget to laugh. Laughs are so beautiful! Laugh with no shame, laugh until your abs hurt and it feels almost as if you were getting a six pack. Do all this and be REAL, and do it now!

Do not leave it for later, because no matter how much time you’re at Stanstead, what your plans are for the future, the truth is we are all passengers of this life and we are living on borrowed time. Perhaps, like me, one day you’ll look back and four years at Stanstead will have passed and you’re moving towards new episodes of your life and you do not want to miss out on it. You do not want to miss out on life. So go be real, be SO REAL.