Becoming Her

If you grew up on ‘80s rom-coms, you know the vibe: witty one-liners, awkward teenage crushes, and high school hallways lined with perfectly defined stereotypes. Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Adventures in Babysitting, Weird Science — they’re etched into my memory like old friends. I can even quote The Cutting Edge word for word. (“Toe pick!”)

Those movies carried into the ‘90s too, and the theme was always the same: jocks, nerds, popular kids, cheerleaders, the rebels, the outsiders. Everyone had their category, their label, their tidy little box. The thing is… I never really fit into one. Sure, I could float between groups, but none of those categories felt like home. I always felt like I was a mix of everything, a little rebellious, a little nerdy, a little artsy, a little deep-thinker, a little dreamer. No one had made a mold that fit all of me.

A few nights ago at dinner, that thought came rushing back. A man at the next table complimented my sleeve tattoo and asked what the theme was. The truth? It doesn’t really have one. I told him, “It’s basically the kitchen drawer.” You know the one, every house has it. It’s got super glue, old photos, paper clips, paint samples, spare keys. It’s messy, it’s eclectic, but it’s essential. And somehow, it works.

That’s my sleeve. That’s my life. That’s my personality.

We talk about high school categories like they’re all-encompassing. The jock, the popular one, the cheerleader, the nerd, the stoner, the gamer. But if we’re being real, most of us don’t fit cleanly into just one. Every now and then I cross paths with people from high school, and it’s like time stood still, they’re still living out the same label they were given decades ago. I know we’re all grown now, but truth is, some things don’t change.

So maybe it’s time for a new category.

If you’re going to put me somewhere, don’t call me a jock, a nerd, or a rebel. Put me in the Kitchen Drawer Category. The one that holds multitudes, the one that doesn’t need a theme to make sense. The one that says: “You don’t have to fit a mold when you were made to create your own.”

Because honestly, I think that’s where the magic is.