"Everyone's a Hero in Their Own Way"

The following post is written in response to prompt number 4: In your mind, are there any heroes in Double Indemnity? If so, who?

I'd like to start this post off the good ol' fashioned TOK way: with some definitions. For the purpose of this blog post we'll need to define the terms hero and superhero. 

A hero, according to Merriam-Webster, is the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work, a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities, or one who shows great courage. 

Wow, Merriam-Webster, how sexist can you be? Let's adjust that just a tad bit: A hero is the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work, a man or woman admired for his or her achievements and noble qualities, or one who shows great courage. 

That's much better! Now a superhero, again defined by Merriam-Webster, is a fictional character who has amazing powers, or a very heroic person. 

When discussing Double Indemnity, who can be considered a (super)hero? As Captain Hammer always says, "Everyone's a hero in their own way."

Captain Hammer. Corporate Tool.

Now if you've ever seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, you'll understand that defining people as 100% hero or villain is a tricky task. Just as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde states, "even if [one] could rightly be said to be either, it [is] only because [one is] radically both."  

The first Double Indemnity heroine I'd like to propose is Lola Dietrichson. 

Her name was Lola. She was not a show girl.

She fits the definition of a hero because she's courageous. She speaks the truth in the face of the tragic deaths of her mother and father and inspires Walter Neff to get in touch with his own inner hero, to get rid of the movie villain, Phyllis Dietrichson.

That brings us to our second hero: Walter Neff, a classic case of villain turned good.

SHe's the main character of the movie and in the end, I did admire him. Sure, he was in on the evil scheme the whole time and commited a few murders. The first was out of nothing but evil. However, his second murder was made with good intentions. Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. 

It's all for Lola. He takes a bullet for the girl, literally and metaphorically. He kills her wicked step-mother and even wins her boyfriend back. In the end, he tells the truth in a mighty act of courage, taking the suspicion off of Lola's lover, Nino, so they can live happily ever after together. He even asks Keyes to watch out for her when the case gets crazy. He may have started off indulging his evil side, but redeems himself in the end by setting things right.

The last hero I'd like to point out is the Claims Manager and Walter's good friend, Barton Keyes.

 Keyes isn't your average hero, though. He's a super hero. He's a heroic person, who utilizes his amazing power, in the name of all things righteous. Now, I know what you're thinking. How in the heck can this guy be considered a superhero? What power does he have? An amazing sense of intuition and an evil-detecting gut. 

He's hardly the MOST useless superhero, and I consider him to be the most heroic character of the entire film. He can sense when clients are up to no good and with his super smarts, and a lot of cigars, always solves the mysteries.

 He vouches for Walter's innocence and integrity, but doesn't let friendship get in the way of justice. In the final scene, when Walter rests, bloody in the doorway, Keyes calls him an ambulance, lights his cigarette, and, we can assume, remains with him until the police arrive. From there, Keyes most likely turned Walter and the cylinders of his testimony over to the police, let the truth spill out, and allowed justice to run its course. I bet he still took care of Lola, though, per Neff's final request.

Arguably, all the heroes named above could be spun and considered villainous. It really just depends in which light you look at them. An old Indian legend tells the tale of two wolves which live inside us all: one good, one evil. They're constantly battling for power. The one you feed is the one that wins. 

Although there is a lot of gray area when discussing heroes and villains, I'd say Lola, Walter, and Keyes, all prevail as heroes in the end.

Like a Hell-Broth Buffer

Witch 1: Double, Double toil and trouble;

Macbeth's Witches have seized Hailey's internet bubble!

We come to teach you candidates,

The proper way to procrastinate!

Witch 2: Boy, you know all that rhyming stuff gets exhausting. I mean of course, we've been doing it since the 1600s, but we're really making an attempt to modernize and reach a larger audience this century. 

Witch 3: So we're gonna pen this post in the modern slang-ed English you foul mouthed cretins are so fond of.

First up on the recommendation list, we've got Oculus.

You see what it wants you to see.

This R-Rated horror film chronicles the journey of two young-adult siblings as they try to uncover the truth about their parents' deaths and rid the world of the evil demon responsible. This movie will confuse you to no end. You'll never know what's actually real! Character's actions are often not of their own accord. The things they see are usually just demonic influenced interpretations of real events. This film pits family member against family member; full of blood and terror, it's fun for the whole witch cult!

Witch 2: Next up on the queue, we've got One Day, the London-set romance based on David Nicholls' fabulous novel.

Em and Dex. Dex and Em.

It's the story of two best friends and their developing relationship over the course of twenty years. Each scene is from the same day (July 15) in a different year (hence the title). Emma and Dex experience lots of change in the movie: relationships, jobs, locations, aspirations, family loss/addition. But throughout their lives, one thing ceases to change: their love for one another. Fate, in the end, brings them together.

Witch 3: You're leaving out the part at the end there where their fate-

Witch 2: SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!! Let's just say the movie contains some of those darker, sinister, HEARTBREAKINGLY TERRIBLE elements that we are so fond of.

(Note: Hailey may or may not have just watched this movie last week after completely devouring the book and may or may not have cried for a really really long time. Still may or may not be crying internally.)

Witch 1: Enough of all that, the keyboard is mine,

I'll give you kids a real good time.

Coming at ya now: rec number three,

Five seasons of paranormal activity!

Witch 2: What my dear witch sister MEANS to say, in the most modern way, is that our third recommendation is the thrilling "reality" television show Ghost Adventures.

The show takes our three ghost hunters, Nick, Zak, and Aaron, all over America to its most haunted locations. The boys then lock themselves in with all the demonic ghouls for the night and, using all their incredibly scientific technology, set out to discover the nature of the spirits which plague the place. The show gives us a lot of inspiration and helps us make our apparitions more realistic.

Witch 3: Teaches us all the ridiculously stupid things humans will believe too. Moving on to the better-looking ghost/witch/ghoul hunting duo, we take a look at recommendation number four: Supernatural.

Dean and Sam. Unless you're a Gilmore Girls fan...

This ten season show will certainly keep you busy. It follows the very attractive Winchester Brothers across the country as they investigate paranormal events that sometimes hit a little too close to home. It's full of blood, gore, and violence and helps ease our homesickness for the demonic realm. 

Witch 2: For our final recommendation, we bring you Safety Not Guaranteed. 

No sense in nonsense. 

This quirky independent comedy follows three cynical magazine employees as they investigate a strange guy searching for a partner to travel through time with him. Equal parts heart-warming and hilarious, this movie will make you feel things. What better choice for three women who write fate and the future than a movie all about time travel and changing your destiny?

All Witches: Well, that wraps up our recommendation list! Happy Binge-Watching IBers! (:

EVAAS: Let's TOK About It

Note: This is a Blog Post written by Molly Crabb, Chris Bakolia, and myself. If you'd like to learn about EVAAS and math and things, you've come to the right (blog)spot! If, however, you're searching for something on Macbeth, it seems you've lost a few letters. Reinsert your "cbe" and go back to the last post. As always: Thanks for reading!

"Okay, okay, okay, so tell me about this EVAAS thing."


SAS EVAAS provides valuable diagnostic information about past practices and reports on students’ predicted success probabilities at numerous academic milestones from grades K-12. Effectively implemented, EVAAS allows educators to recognize progress and growth over time. It measures student progress objectively and accurately and allows for teachers to improve instruction. Teachers are able to understand the incoming academic preparedness of students before they enter the classroom and monitor student progress (from low achieving to high achieving) ensuring growth opportunities for all students. EVAAS helps teachers and principals improve student learning and provide an exceptional education to every child, thereby providing an equitable learning opportunity to all students.

 "I don't get it. Where's the math?"

EVAAS uses Value Added Modeling (VAM) as a means of measurement. VAM is a method of teacher evaluation that measures the teacher's contribution in a given year by comparing the current test scores of their students to the scores of those same students in previous school years, as well as to the scores of other students in the same grade.  Two relatively recent additions to EVAAS’ VAM use nonparametric analyses that make fewer assumptions. These two models are the standardized gain model (SGM) and the student growth percentile model (SGPM). Both models are regression models that calculate value-added by “averaging” regression residuals.  Of course with any regression model, there is going to be measurement error in the predictor variable(s). The result is that school and/or teacher effectiveness, as estimated by these models, tends to be correlated with school/classroom composition, with high-poverty/high-minority schools/classrooms being more likely to be evaluated as ineffective.

"Wait a second...so the math is ineffective? Math can't be ineffective!"

That's where you're wrong, dear reader.

A status of perfection is nearly impossible to gain in the field of mathematics. Even if a model, system, or equation is considered flawless, it is always assumed that natural human error will bleed into, and negatively affect experimental results. That’s the reason mathematicians and scientists include percent errors in their calculations. What are some possible flaws in the EVAAS value-added model, and how are they accounted for so as not to negatively influence ratings of teacher or school effectiveness?

One possible flaw of the EVAAS model, as Chris touched on above, is that it does not account for socio-economic factors which may affect students’ performance on test scores. Value added models which account for factors such as race and economic status do exist, but research has found that a thorough student test history diminishes the need for the inclusion of demographic data. Simply put: demographic data is unnecessary and, when utilized, does not affect predictions. However, it can have an effect on teachers, legislators, parents, and students subjected to value added modeling, who may be wary of utilizing such systems to measure effectiveness. Including demographic data can often increase the public’s confidence and comfort with value added modeling.

 

Oh yeah. They look confident in the education system alright.

Let’s go back to the issue of mindset for a moment. We often see math and science as wholly logical fields which produce factual conclusions based on observations. We see the results which stem from math and science as truth, unclouded by human emotion and opinion. However, this mindset is misleading; systems, like humans, can be biased, and EVAAS is no exception. A sort of “system bias” exists in the way EVAAS handles missing data.

A good predictor model includes LOTS of predictor variables. While this sounds like a great plan in theory, in practice it often falls short. The truth of the matter is, the more predictor variables you include, the more likely it is that students will miss one or more of the predictor tests. In order to be included in the EVAAS model of teacher effectiveness, a student must have data on all the predictors being utilized. Students with lower attendance rates (typically lower achieving students) will tend to miss more tests, and will therefore be excluded from data more often than their higher achieving peers. 

Betcha that kid has got all his predictor variables.

The system creators claim to account for this. They say that EVAAS assumes some scores are missing at random (meaning the available scores are a fair representation of those missing as well). This is not the case, however, as it has been discovered that lower distribution scores are missing from data more often than scores higher on the distribution.

A similar issue is that students who move into the district in later years cannot be included, as they may be missing predictor variables from elementary or middle school tests. This occurs in much smaller numbers and has less effect than the previous example.

Both of these examples contribute to errors in the evaluation of teacher effectiveness as the number of students per teacher is necessary for the evaluation. The loss of even a handful of students can have a big impact on the standard error of an estimate, particularly in elementary school settings where teachers typically teach only one class.

The real flaw with the EVAAS model lies not in the model itself, but in the education surrounding it. One of the reasons the state claims to use EVAAS is because it believes that the models student score predictions can help teachers identify students in danger of failing or performing below average and prepare interventions for them. SAS, the company that hosts the EVAAS model has web resources for teachers, which explain the EVAAS model and how it can be used for this purpose. How many teachers actually utilize these resources? Of those that do, how many of them truly understand EVAAS and the data it produces? SAS does have a good customer service system in place, but that method of education can only go so far. The state lacks the capacity to provide training at the teacher level; so, instead, they train district leadership and assume that districts communicate with principles who then communicate with teachers. This sort of “trickle down” education is a poorly designed system. How can teachers be expected to utilize data to create interventions and assist their students if they don’t understand the information? 

"How do people feel about EVAAS?"

The EVAAS method of assessing student and teacher performance is viewed by its creators and supporters as a useful tool for wide spread understanding of success in education. It uses as many test scores as possible to make an estimate of a student's future scores. The model holds every student to the same standard of improvement by not taking into account socio-economic variables. Creators claim that even if a student is affected by their social or economic situations, it would show in their previous scores as well, which would keep the system fair. The model is not the sole basis on which assessment is made but it is an additional tool to help schools assess their teachers. Schools have not yet implemented consequences based only on the EVAAS assessment.

The model is a completely quantitative tool that uses numbers from a standardized test to define a student's success. This is a problem for EVAAS critics. Many teachers believe that assessment of students and classes should be completely based on observation of teachers. It is impossible to evaluate how a teacher is doing based on scores. If a teacher has students who are unwilling to learn or are not motivated to do well (lurking variables) the results are still blamed on teacher performance. Differences in summer learning for each student are also not taken into account. In some cases, the curriculum the teacher is supposed to teach does not cover all that is on the standardized test, greatly impacting their performance rating.

"Well how do you feel about EVAAS?"

We believe that EVAAS is a good model for predicting student scores and measuring teacher and school effectiveness. However, there are issues that need to be resolved before it can be considered a great model! State legislators and EVAAS overseers should become more involved at the school level, educating teachers and principals about EVAAS and how they can use it to be more successful. The state should also implement uniform policies that dictate how they will deal with teachers and schools that are not meeting performance expectations. This will create standards for all schools and teachers to strive for, as well as regulating intervention and discipline, which will hopefully help all of North Carolina’s schools provide equal educations to their students. 

 

After reading our EVAAS overview, learning of the possible flaws in the EVAAS model, and hearing both the negative and positive perspectives on value added modeling, we hope you understand enough about value added modeling, and EVAAS, to form your own opinion.

Macbeth Is a Fall (From Grace That Is)

Rory: It's not the Wall Street Journal, but there's a quiz in there that determines whether you're a summer or a fall.
Rory: So, what's the verdict?

Richard: I am most definitely an autumn.

This Gilmore Girls reference brought to you by the following prompt:

3. Do you believe events in your life have been guided by fate or chance? Why or why not? Based on the text, what do you think Shakespeare's attitude was towards fate? Does Macbeth have any choice in his actions or was everything predetermined? Use examples from the text as your support.

Anyone who knows me knows that I can't make a decision to save my life. Where do I want to go for dinner? Doesn't matter. What movie do I want to watch? I haven't a care in the world. What time should we meet for coffee? Whatever time works. So, how do I respond to the question of fate or chance? 

 Quite simply, I don't. I let the little taco girl do it for me.

Pourque no los dos? Pourquoi pas les deux? Why can't I ask the question in both languages? Why can't I believe that my life is influenced by both fate and chance? 

Albert Einstein says life is like a bicycle. Anna Nalick says life is like an hourglass. Forrest Gump says life is like a box of chocolates. 

See? Forrest Gump likes the philosophy of both!

I say life is like a magazine quiz. 

Work hard, play hard

A dual venue for fate and chance. Just hear me out. You have a predetermined fate. Well...actually...you have LOTS of predetermined fates. Your fate is like those three options at the bottom of the magazine quiz. Your chance (or rather, your freewill) is all the options you're given along the way. No matter which combination you choose, you're going to end up at one of those three options. 

I don't like the idea of some celestial being controlling every aspect of my existence. However...I also don't like the idea that we're all just meandering around, alone. Hence, my simile which blends fate and freewill into a perfect harmony. 

In reading and taking examples from Macbeth, I personally think Shakespeare views fate as one giant joke. Macbeth receives his "fate" from the wyrd witchy sisters who always speak in rhyme. Shakespeare reflects the influence of the witches through other characters' lines. When a character is acting under the influence of the witchy women, they also speak in rhyme.

Macbeth does speak in rhyme at the most pivotal of plot points, when the decisions are most important, such as in Act I, Scene VII when Macbeth settles on the decision to kill King Duncan:

MACBETH: I am settled, and bend up 

 Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.

Away and mock the time with fairest show;

False face must hide what the false heart doth know. 

And in Act II, Scene I right before the murder is committed:
  

MACBETH: I go, and it is done. The bell invites me.

Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell

That summons thee to heaven, or to hell. 

Seems like enough evidence to deem that Shakespeare views fate as the reason for Macbeth's treachery, right? 

Wrong. 

Macbeth entertains these ideas of murder long before the witches set the ideas concretely in his skull. In  Act I, Scene VII, before Macbeth utters the line above, he states:

MACBETH: Will it not be received,

When we have marked with blood those sleepy two

Of his own chamber and used their very daggers, 

That they have done't? 

And again, in Act II, Scene I, in Macbeth's hallucinatory soliloquy about the dagger:

MACBETH: I see thee yet, in form as palpable 

As this which now I draw.   

These sections of the play are prime examples for Shakespeare's expression of Macbeth's exercise of freewill. He contemplates killing Duncan on his own, before reaching the determined "fate" given to him by the witches. Macbeth made the choices, and has now arrived at his predetermined fate. He is the geeky one, the murderer, the autumn (fall) from grace. 

Lights, CAMera, ARTion!

I'm not a huge contemporary art fan as I have a hard time interpreting visual material, but I thoroughly enjoyed the Limited Visibility exhibit at CAM Raleigh. I loved how many different mediums were presented. Art pieces ranged from visual, to video, to auditory, and even participatory! I found a lot of meaning in the historical and cultural contexts of the pieces, as explained by our tour guide, but had a difficult time connecting the pieces to anything outside of the literal.

That is...except for this one piece. A piece comprised of 169 acrylic painted rectangles, assembled on two walls. Blind self portrait listening to the beetles while scratching a notched stick so to invoke, the universal magic of the power of destruction by Abraham Cruzvillegas, assembled in the CAM museum by various staff members in 2013.

This was the second piece we were introduced to by our lovely tour guide. When I first saw it, I could barely contain my eye roll. It was so stereotypically contemporary. I mean, anyone can slap up some square pieces of paper, give it a weird, entirely too long title, and call it art, right? 

Contemporary Art at its finest, ladies and gents.

See? I did it right here!

My sketch of the piece. Just call me Picasso. Or...Abraham Cruzvillegas.

But then the tour guide explained what was behind the piece.

Literally.

Every one of those rectangular sheets contains some sort of image, word, or object behind it. Of course...you can't see any of them.

Trust me...I tried.

But what does this piece mean? I looked to the title for an explanation and got stuck on the word "self-portrait". That's when I started drawing connections between the piece and people. 

If you look at the color of the acrylic paint used in the exhibit next to Abraham Cruzvillegas, it's pretty close to the color of his skin. In my interpretation, all of these rectangular sheets represent a person. All of the things on the back of the sheets represent the secrets that people hold inside of them. 

If you look closely, you can see that some of the sheets are drooping awkwardly from the nails they are secured by. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but it made me think of the heaviness of secrets and how they weigh us down. 

Our tour guide claimed to have helped assemble this work of art, and gave us some insight as to what secrets these rectangles were hiding. The secrets ranged from an image of trees to a sugar packet. These objects aren't really of any importance, yet I still had a deep desire to flip over every one of those sheets just to discover what rested on the other side. 

People hunger in this way for knowledge of others as well. When you find out someone has a secret, you immediately want to know what it is. And it bothers you constantly until you find out. Maybe you have a "tour guide" in your life who can shed some light on the situation, but you'll never be 100% sure if he or she is giving you factual information. And you'll never receive the whole story. 

Maybe the piece is trying to tell us that is okay. That we should just take some things for what they are. Accept what is known and given to us.  I mean the artist did say he was listening to the Beatles (Beetles?), right?

As stated previously, this piece was assembled by various staff members of the museum. Did this change or influence the message in any way? Would I have gotten a different meaning from the piece if it weren't arranged across the corner of two walls? What if the acrylic rectangles had been a different color?

All very interesting questions (secrets?) to which we'll never know the answer! Maybe we should just Let It Be Go.

An Amendment to the Seven Deadly Sins

I propose an addition to the Seven Deadly Sins: College Applications.

Because of this awful, terrible, sin against adolescent humanity, I will be utilizing my freebie!

"WWJD?" Probably Not That.

In response to question 4: What does Mr. Brocklehurst's analogy between the ill-prepared breakfast and the "sufferings of the primitive Christians...the torments of martyrs...the exhortations of our blessed Lord Himself" reveal about his chracter? How does this attitude contrast with that of Miss Temple to reveal the author's social message? 

Mr. Brocklehurst's analogy comparing the girls to the "primitive Christians" is followed by an outpouring of Biblical quotes. Among these, a paraphrased verse, "If ye suffer hunger or thirst for My sake, happy are ye."

Mr. Brocklehurst uses this verse, along with others, to justify his ill treatment of the girls at Lowood. He doesn't give them proper winter clothing, so they suffer in the cold. He doesn't give them enough food, so they're always hungry. His policies call for punishment of every behavior that goes against his belief of what the Bible teaches. This includes shaming a little girl for having naturally curly, "immodest" hair, a factor far out of her control.

Now I was not raised with religion. I know very little about Christianity, but I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say that Jesus would not approve of children being abused and suffering under a cause supposedly for him. (Back me up on this, Jesus. Your verses mean we should starve and shame our children?)

Brocklehurst is an evil character who readers are meant to detest. Through his hypocritical actions, Charlotte Bronte was making a statement on the hypocrisy of Christians and the corruption of the church and its practices.

Even the character of Miss Temple who, when contrasted with Brocklehurst, seems rather pleasant, is meant to illustrate this social message. Miss Temple is kind and encouraging towards the Lowood girls. She tries to do what's best for them and probably feels she's acting as God would want her to. However, she does not stand against Brocklehurst's abuses. She takes his word as seriously as God's. She's justified in this because Brocklehurst has the power to put her out of work, but does this mean she should go against the TRUE teachings of the Bible?

Mr. Brocklehurst is meant to represent the corrupt church officials who manipulate religion and utilize it in the wrong way. Often, they do more harm than good. Miss Temple is meant to represent the congregants who take orders from these corrupt people. They truly believe that God speaks through their leaders, so of course they listen to them. This often results in the church leaders and followers acting in hypocritical, harmful ways.

In the book, it results in the mistreatment of children. But that's okay, because, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Unlike Brocklehurst and Temple's version of "God's word," this stuff is the real deal. Karma is a bad word that I cannot say, but Brocklehurst will get what's coming to him and the Lowood kids will get what's rightfully theirs in the end.

A Rose by Any Other Name Wouldn't be Nearly as Awesome

I've often questioned my mother as to why she and my dad named me "Hailey". Her answer is always the same, "Because we liked it." My name is pretty common (boring) but I don't have much to complain about. It's easily pronounceable, so substitutes don't stumble over it during roll call. And, I never have that depressing realization that I can't post a picture of my Starbucks cup on Instagram because of a spelling error! (Except...I do. Because the name Hailey has A LOT of spelling variations. My favorite one I've ever seen? H-E-I-L-E-Y like...seriously?) 

When my parents were naming my oldest brother, they chose his full name (Joshua Matthew Glick) to match my father's initials. They tried to do the same thing with my second brother, but couldn't agree on an "M" middle name they both liked, so they ended up with "Jordan Taylor Glick". Add two sisters to the mix (Jessica and Jacquelin) and we may as well just change our last name to "Duggar"! 

I always felt like the odd one out with all the "J" names running around, but as I've grown up, this definition has come to be a part of my personality I wear with pride. 

I am odd. My family and closest friends all know this. But they love me anyway. Not everyone feels the same sentiments towards me, unfortunately, and it hasn't always been easy to be myself. I moved to North Carolina the summer before I started eighth grade. I was twelve years old. I had moved many times in my life, but never to a new school, so I was understandably nervous on my first day. I was always known as the "social butterfly," talking to and making friends with everyone I met. I thought if I was myself, people would appreciate me for all my crazy quirks. They didn't. 

It was obvious right from the beginning that kids didn't like the "real me". So I tried to be someone else. I saved the "real me" for when I was at home, with my mom, and tried to be like all the other kids at my school. But putting that costume on every day before leaving for school was an exhausting task. It was a really tough year. I didn't realize it at the time, but trying so hard to be someone I wasn't, turned me into someone I wasn't. I went from being a happy go-lucky, optimistic kid, to being a sad, lonely kid, desperate for a friend.

I can honestly say that Millbrook High School saved my life. Transferring to this school not only allowed me to be the person I truly was, but also shaped me into something so much better. 

Hailey is just a name. It's not who I am. I am odd. Quirky. Loud. Passionate. Nerdy. Crazy. And I've learned to love every bit of that. To those of you reading this right now...thank you so much for being a part of that. Thank you for showing me that it's okay to be myself. And to anyone who has or is currently struggling with a similar issue, I leave you with these words:

“Please, be proud of the pieces that make you, you. Embrace the oddities and hold onto them with everything you have. These strange little quirks belong to us, and only us, and they are all absolutely vital in creating the bigger picture that is who we are. Be proud of yourself, because if you are, it never matters who else is. Because when you are, the inevitability of other people believing in you and being proud too, is such an amazing bonus to the strength you already possess."

-Tyler Knott Gregson