“That weird Indian girl.”

That’s been my title ever since elementary school. When I first heard it I felt ashamed. I felt ashamed of being different. As I grew up, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with it. Sometimes I was proud of it. Sometimes I was proud of the ‘weird’, sometimes the ‘Indian,’ sometimes I hated it. As I moved around, the name stuck on. Although no one called me it (at least to my face) it was the best description of me. In middle school, I felt like each time I walked down the hall this title was tattooed on my forehead with all my peers glaring at it. I was so self-conscious and felt like all my flaws were out for the world to see. All. The. Time. Then one day, I had an epiphany. If I felt this way, so did everyone else. Everyone is so concerned with themselves they don’t have time to pick out the flaws of others, they’re too busy picking out their own. As any high-achieving student, I put this to the test. For the longest time, I wanted to cut all my hair off. My inspiration: Jennifer Lawrence’s pixie cut. I was always so scared of what others may think so I never did. This was my independent variable. I went to school the next day looking like a whole new person. Guess what I found out? Only my friends noticed. No one pointed at me and laughed or sneered or even questioned it (they all should’ve it was a terrible haircut and took years to grow out). I learned a lesson that day. The scientific method works. I also learned to not let others dictate my life and happiness. I sometimes have trouble with this, but whenever I forget I remember my classic nickname and I’m proud to call myself “that weird Indian girl.” Wow. That was super dramatic and cheesy, but I’ve learned from the best of Bollywood…and Barbara Streisand.