In a world obsessed with perfection, fitting in is just another form of added pressure. Students are expected to be on their A-game constantly: present the right image and say the correct things, even if this leaves very little room for individuality. Online trends change overnight, and authenticity is often sacrificed for validation. At a time when almost everything feels performative, there is value in embracing what makes us real.
There is a Japanese concept, wabi-sabi, that finds beauty in the imperfect. Flipping the societal quest for perfection, it urges us to strive towards our own uniqueness and incompleteness. In an era where AI-content has blurred the edge between human and artificial, where everyone seeks to bathe in the newest fad before abandoning it a week later, where societal expectations and the desire to follow the herd seem inescapable, now is the time to embrace the things that make us, us.
Of course, we live in a time when thinking for ourselves has become out of fashion. Every day, we are flooded with content from hyper-personalized algorithms that cast issues as black and white and try to push people into different categories. It’s no surprise that this labelling and categorization have made Americans in general more polarized. We all want to belong somewhere, and this desire can make it tempting to self-censor and hide what we want to express. At the same time, we adhere to viewpoints that, in many cases, stand opposed to what we actually feel to “fit in.” This can force us to stand behind things that we don’t believe are right.
Consider the US Men’s Hockey Olympic Hockey Team, which faced bitter backlash following a viral episode with President Donald Trump. In a congratulatory phone call following their gold medal win, Trump made a denigrating comment about the Women’s Olympic Hockey Team, and many players laughed along with the joke. Whether out of discomfort, pressure or desire to keep the moment pleasant, no one pushed back. Their silence showed how easy it is, even for accomplished people on a world stage to go along with what feels socially convenient rather than standing up for what is right.
In these times, we should all take inspiration from another gold medallist: Alysa Liu. She has long been a champion skater, but for much of her life, she followed the demands of her coaches. She won contest after contest, but felt beaten by the withering societal pressures placed on her. It wasn’t until she made her own decisions, both in skating and in her own life, that she proved to the world that there is strength in choosing your own path.
In high school, we fall prey to a variety of demands to make ourselves appealing to colleges and to each other. But this spawns a meaningless competition that, in the end, only brings about more unhappiness. Now is the time to reject this toxic culture, and to be unapologetic about who you are, the imperfections you carry, and the ways in which you can grow. Because the parts of ourselves that we are most tempted to scrub away are often the very things that define us.
This unsigned editorial reflects the views of the Harbinger’s Editorial Board.
