By Sadie Fienberg

We were all raised to stick to the standards set by society, which is great and all—but it is time to express yourself and live the life you want. This year, my senior year, I decided that I was just going to do me. I am not spending my last months in college trying to appeal to the masses, and neither should anyone else. Think about it—in four short years we will all be living different lives. These are the years to do what we want. People are always saying “you do you” to their friends. What does that mean?

In high school, people put on a facade. No, just me? I liked to do things to please others or to fit in. I feel like we all went through phases of doing ridiculous things that we look back on now and wonder why we ever did that. Was it necessary to dye the ends of our hair red or wear overpriced True Religion jeans? Absolutely not, but we did it. It was a weird time in our lives. We were all still living at home and following the instructions and taking in the opinions of our parents. We saw the same people every day and fell into a funk. All I can say is TGFC (thank god for college).

As we all get deeper and deeper into our college careers, we all just do what we want. If you want to go to the movies alone on a Tuesday afternoon, do it. If you want to wear a choker out to a party on a Saturday night, absolutely do it. If you want to join a million clubs and be involved on campus, do it. You get my point, right? This is the exact time in our lives to be doing what we want. There is no reason to hold back or look for the acceptance of others. It is one thing to ask for an opinion of your friends, but do not change anything about yourself for the approval of others around you. My mother has always told me to live my life how I want it and to not change because someone is asking me to.

I am just tired of (and a little disappointed by)  people trying to do things just for approval. I may sound “ranty,”but seriously. I walk around school in Teva sandals and my go-to accessory on the weekend is a black choker. I hang out with people who are the same way. They just live their life to the fullest and do whatever their heart desires—and there is nothing wrong with that. Those are the people I prefer to associate with.

I loved coming to college because I got to be my truest version of myself. I found a major that I am obsessed with, friends who deal with my craziness and a style that suits me. I say exactly how I am feeling, and I have thoughts and beliefs that I hold true to every day as well as an amazing support system that I would not trade the world for. Why? Because I am just doing me and you should just “do you.”

Sadie Feinberg studies journalism. She can be reached at alexandraschultz@unr.edu or on Twitter @AliSchultzzz.