Most people who know me would agree that I’m not very spontaneous. I like to go to sleep at the same time every night, write my blog on the same day every week, and when the grocery store is out of the brand of shampoo I like, I’m a sad, sad person.

In some ways this is good. I get my homework done on time, I’m almost always pretty well rested, and my hair is usually the same level of frizzy.

My best friend, on the other hand, is the opposite. She goes to a small liberal arts college where she was so excited about all of the opportunities at her school that I’m pretty sure she joined every single club that existed there. She even joined a club that was dedicated to playing video games, which I’ve never seen her do in my entire life (and we’ve been best friends since first grade).

That’s something I love about her. I could easily have grown up never going to plays, wandering around aimlessly in the fashion district, or even volunteering. I probably never would have gone to a school dance if she hadn’t forced me to and I sincerely doubt that I would have gone to Mars in a spaceship that we made for our eight grade planet project (which we made in an afternoon out of cardboard, take that NASA geniuses). I’m so glad I did all of those things, because they’re the best memories I have of growing up in La Canada. 

At the same time, having schedules and routines helped me a lot in school, and I don’t regret that either. Even if I did, there probably isn’t much I could do about it. I just sort of naturally have to plan things out in my mind, it’s how I make sense of the world. I doubt that I would get anything done if I joined more than four or five clubs here and I need time to be alone sometimes or end up exhausted.

Anyways, UT is a school that really emphasizes diversity and individuality, which is great. It means that here it’s okay to be whoever you are, but you have the opportunity to learn from people who are your polar opposites as well. You have to seek these people out, but it’s well worth the effort. It allows you to draw from your strengths, but also realize that some of your qualities are unusual and don’t have to dictate your entire life either. It keeps you from living in a bubble and it lets you admire qualities in other people that you don’t have. For me, there are a million reasons why I’m glad I’m here and many of them lie in other people.