Reflections on Who I Am
June 15, 2023
When someone asks me what I’m the most proud of in my life, I almost always reply with a lie. I’ll say that I’m proud of my academic accomplishments, I’ll say that I’m proud of what I’ve been able to do for others, I’ll say I’m proud of a million other things, but none of these are true. While I’m still very proud of everything else I’ve got going for me, these are hardly what I’m most proud of. What makes me the most proud is simply living my life while being exactly who I am. I am very proud to say that every single day, I get to be nothing more and nothing less. Some days when I sit down to think about it, feeling completely comfortable in my own skin can be a very strange feeling, especially after not feeling that way for a long time. In short, I am proud to be different. Not because of how others may perceive me, but because of how liberating it can be. I never feel like I am “too much” and I’m not even sure there can be such a thing. I also feel free from rigid social norms. I never worry about being too masculine or too feminine. I never worry about being too visible. I never worry about whether others will “get” my hair. In the same way I don’t worry about being too masculine or too feminine, I also don’t worry about being “Ni de aquí, ni de allá”. I am me: nothing more and nothing less. The years of my life that I’ve been able to live as unapologetically myself have brought me great joy, and no one can take that from me. No one can take that away from us, no matter how hard they try.