People always ask, who are you?

My reply is simply, whose asking?

I am no category, I am no single word

You can’t define me with a dictionary

I am loud

I am quiet

I am a leader

I am a follower

I can knock you out

I can cry in my room for hours

I am a teeter totter of emotions and conflicts trying to escape

But I know my audience

I am an actor

And the whole worlds my stage

We all have our slot, Geek, Nerd, Athlete, Slut, Skater, Druggie, Popular, Cool, Gamer

I am me, why must I be defined?

I don’t fit in, I’m the square peg jammed in a circle hole

Too smart to be an athlete, too athletic to be a nerd, too shy to be popular, too outgoing to be a geek

I’ve got the worst of both worlds

I’ve got the best of my worlds

Still I carry on

I am caring

I am free

I am peaceful

I am violent

I am a melting pot of emotions and turmoil waiting to erupt

A walking oxymoron, a walking contradiction

I am an engineer

I am smart, analytical, dedicated, and like stability

I am a doctor

I am caring, sentimental, fierce, and love the chaos

I am more than a number, no GPA can capture who I am, no top 10% matters in life,

I’m a giver and a taker

I’m a lover and a fighter

My life is what I make of it

So I’m going to do what I do, and enjoy it

Instead of drowning in accolades and expectations

“You can’t be good at tests you’re an athlete!” they said

But I am

“You can’t be a varsity member of a sports team you are in the top 10% of scholars in your state” they call out

But I am

And I will continue to be

This walking contradiction

This walking oxymoron

But I am who I love,

And no one will change that

“You can’t be Catholic you listen to heavy metal!” They scream

But why can’t I?

Why must people make stereotypes about me?

Why can’t people just accept me for who I am?

Just because I look a certain way, or dress a certain way doesn’t define me for my worth

People just don’t learn…

They make me try and fit in

They’ll call you names or make fun of you

But I am a variable

I am who I need to be for who needs me

I am caring for those that need me

I am a shoulder to cry on

I am a fist to knock out the person that made you cry

I am fired up and calm

I am determined and lazy

I am unexplainable and undefinable

After all, no two people on Earth are the same

Regardless of name

Regardless of race

Regardless of sexual orientation

A person is a person

And all that matters is what is on the inside

What makes you tick like a clock and get excited

Regardless of how stupid it seems to others

I am me and there is no one like me

Mom isn’t just saying I’m special because I’m her son

But because I’m a unique individual

Not even one in a million

Not one in a billion

Not one in 7.125 billion

But one in infinity

In all of time there will be no one quite like me

And my life will go down in the halls of history

And people will remember me

Because

I am…

Carter Matthew Brasel