You May Be Sensitive Inside,

I Take The No-doughnut Pledge, And Then I Break It.

I Think There's More Pressure To Stand Out In A Way That Is Measurable Externally. The Fame Culture Is Definitely Way Worse And Weirder Than It Was When We Were In High School.

I Was Always Torn Between Wanting Whatever I Pictured As A Typical High School Experience And That Being Just A Part I Wanted To Play. I've Written About This, But One Of Those Typical High School Experiences Was Drill Team. Like, I Just Really Wanted To Wear A Uniform And Get On The Bus And Be Part Of This Group. As An Only Child, The Idea Of Blending In - And Literally Everyone Being In Sync And Not Standing Out At All - Felt Like Kind Of A Fun Family Thing.

My Mother Had Lived In London Since I Was Little, So She Never Got To See My School Plays And Stuff.

I Would Rather Be A Person Who Struggled There Than Someone Who Had A Great, Easy Time And Then Got Out In The World And Was Like, "wait A Minute, I Didn't Get Voted Class President? What's Going On?" You Know, "popular" Doesn't Necessarily Correlate To Anything. "popular" Still Has To Get Up At 7:00 In The Morning And Go To Work And Do Something Worthy Too. There's No Edge, Really, That You Get From Being Whatever Was Popular In School.