Everyone wants to be accepted and to fit in, but should they compromise who they are just for that? I try my hardest not to, and consider myself very real and true to who I am. I do not pretend to be interested in certain things or follow certain trends. Most of all, I do not change who I am to please someone else. Ever since I was younger, I have put a lot of effort into my schoolwork and taken time to educate myself of topics I find interesting. Because I am so scrupulous and organized, I tend to do well in school. People do not always like you if you do better than them at things, and my achievements in school have led to losses in friends. Some of my friends have acted as if I should get lower grades so that others do not seem bad in comparison. Comments like these hurt my feelings and make me question whether putting in all the extra work is worth it, and in the past I have gotten really upset and frustrated. Why should I feel bad for getting the grade I worked hard to earn? I do not want to conform to fit into the ‘average grade range’, or to fit into anything else. I want to succeed in school, to push myself and learn as much as I can. An education is not something that everyone is given the chance to receive, and I plan to take advantage of mine and work hard so that I can achieve something I am proud of. I will not pretend it is funny to get a poor grade, or that I value shopping at the mall more than studying for a final exam. That is not who I am. This is who I am. I still have time to be someone different if I change my mind, but it will be me who changes my mind, not somebody else.