What Makes Me Different | Teen Ink

What Makes Me Different

May 9, 2009
By ramnapotter PLATINUM, Toronto, Other
ramnapotter PLATINUM, Toronto, Other
26 articles 1 photo 90 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow...”


Am I an abnormal teenager because I don’t understand the physics of fashion? Am I laugh-worthy because I don’t have shoes that look like I am about to become an astronaut, and I don’t wear makeup that makes me look like Cleopatra’s great-great-great-great-great granddaughter? Do I look like an intruder from Mars because I enjoy musing over the ‘70s, and I actually don’t throw rocks at my mom for being my mom?

If you stuck up descendants of an Egyptian queen that had no sense of style responded with another “Duh!” to all of these seemingly pointless questions, you might be right. I may wear my hair loose instead of coating every inch of it with a whipped-cream like substance. Why would I want a rigid and stiff hairball stuck to the top of my head that probably weighs more than I do? I may not buy clothes from a store that charges fifty bucks for ripped jeans. Isn’t it the same thing if I wore my grandfather’s old saggy suspender pants? Well, I’d rather. I may not paint my face every morning and have a spasm over my non-water-proof mascara dripping down my face because of the rain. You guys look like modernized, manicured versions of Bo Peep. I may listen to classics like Abba or M.J. instead of listening to bands that look like they just woke up and decided to cut their own hair. I may prefer watching the night sky shining with a billion gazillion stars, instead of watching ugly actors do the exact same thing in pixels. Sure, I may eat more than one peach a week, along with a lettuce leaf. I’m not really looking forward to becoming an anorexic patient, thank you very much. Nor do I find any excitement in forcing a finger down my throat and feeling the warmth of my breakfast come back up my oesophagus.

If you ask me, I like myself the way I am, however cheesy that sounds.
You laugh because I’m different.
I laugh because you’re all the same.


The author's comments:
This piece wholly symbolizes me as a teenager. Hope you enjoy it.

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This article has 23 comments.


DJRAVS BRONZE said...
on Sep. 26 2016 at 3:53 pm
DJRAVS BRONZE, London, Other
3 articles 0 photos 4 comments
I agree with a number of stuff you`ve said her :)

on Jul. 22 2016 at 8:13 pm
MusicPanda BRONZE, Cleveland, Tennessee
3 articles 3 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
A true reader is not defined by how many, or what books they have read, but by the lessons that they learn from them.

This is excellent. You have some real talent!

on Jul. 6 2013 at 5:24 pm
DanielleSK BRONZE, Toronto, Other
1 article 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I think a lot, but I don't say much."- Anne Frank

You made a good point here, but there's no need to make fun of people while you're at it. You've expressed that you have a different taste and that you are your own person (I can relate to you) , but next time, maybe do it in a way that isn't necessarily hurtful to others. Good article, though.

Bones96 BRONZE said...
on Feb. 21 2012 at 10:51 pm
Bones96 BRONZE, Charlotte, North Carolina
2 articles 0 photos 108 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life isn't about finding yourself it's about creating yourself-

I really liked the artical and totally agree. Like you I am different then the 'raverge teenager' and perfectly happy with that.

on Jun. 24 2011 at 12:26 pm
misswindsor BRONZE, Collingdale, Pennsylvania
2 articles 0 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
"What Fresh Hell is this?"

I agree with what you're saying, but I don't like the way you make fun of people in that article. Maybe they wear makeup because they have some horrible scarr on their face that they don't want anyone to see. Maybe they buy 50 dollars ripped jeans, because they like the style and that they can afford it and maybe they like watching sappy love movies because they like happy endings, maybe they like listening to music other than abba n M.J. because they're not really into that soul and hippie style, and maybe they're anorexic because people keep on teasing them about their weight. You never know why people do stuff, so don't sit there and be all high and mighty. I'm glad that you perfer older styles, music, and movies and stuff, i enjoy that stuff too, but don't make fun of people. Plain & Simple just like the old days.

wondering76 said...
on Oct. 3 2010 at 9:28 am
wondering76, Quakertown, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Judge me and I'll prove you wrong, tell me what to do and I'll tell you off, say I'm not worth it and watch where I end up, screw me over and I'll do it to you twice as bad, call me crazy, you really have not idea!"

Well, I do like it, but I don't put on my make-up to try to make myself something different. In fact, just the opposite. I wear make-up to show off my natural beauty, but I am not like those girls who put huge amounts on. I do that only for outtings such as dances or movies.

linda123 said...
on Oct. 2 2010 at 7:10 pm
I love it.beautiful poem.

Shelly-T GOLD said...
on Aug. 20 2010 at 9:24 am
Shelly-T GOLD, Romeoville, Illinois
13 articles 0 photos 71 comments
I love the ending and your unique style of writing!  Keep it up!

on Aug. 3 2010 at 2:59 am
lizzymwrites GOLD, Miami, Florida
13 articles 0 photos 56 comments

Favorite Quote:
The only people for me are the mad ones... the ones who never yawn and say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders against the stars." - Jack Kerouac

Oh, I adore ABBA. My mom played a lot of old songs in the car when I was little, so my iPod is kind of a mess of old and new thrown together.

Anyway, don't assume they're all the same. They're probably not.l


on Jul. 29 2010 at 5:04 pm
toxic.monkey SILVER, Tashkent, Other
6 articles 0 photos 210 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Homo homini lupus"

Funny and deep piece, shows who you are. I can't say I'm like you but I have no problem with people who don't wear make up or anything like that. It's admirable that you can like yourself as you are and I hope you're going to continue being whoever you want to be not who you're opressed into being :)

Joyce said...
on Jul. 7 2010 at 10:54 pm

I love your article! Nice voice, good usage of words to bring out your opinion...great overall!


It is good to be different!


on May. 2 2010 at 3:13 pm
I think that this was really well-written and you got your point across well. I'm proud to call myself fashionable and I believe that being into trendy clothing (as opposed to the majority of my school, who believes like you do that throwing on whatever in the morning is good enough for them, which I respect), is what sets me apart. I love my fashion as a way to express myself and I think that makeup is fun. How you dress is in no way indicative of how someone is set apart on the inside, if that makes any sense. I may look like a designer-clothes-wearing bottle blonde but I'm smart and motivated, too.

on Apr. 20 2010 at 4:27 pm
songofheaven BRONZE, East Amherst, New York
2 articles 2 photos 51 comments

Favorite Quote:
I have found power in the mysteries of thought. -Euripides

I like this. I love the 60's, and the 70's. I'd like to dress in bell bottoms, fringe, and t-shirts every day. I really would like it if we could all just not be judged based on our clothing, or our makeup(or lack of it), and just say what we feel like. Decorating our lockers in Beatles or Zeppelin...but times have just changed like that. We can't wear what we want, and making first impressions is important now. It's important for college interviews, job interviews...the world as I would have liked it, is gone.

on Mar. 28 2010 at 8:31 pm
SaddleShoeGal PLATINUM, Granite Canyon, Wyoming
23 articles 42 photos 71 comments

Favorite Quote:
"History is the key to the future"--Melinda Emerson
"Never tell the truth to those unworthy of it"--Mark Twain

This is almost exactly like me! Pretty much the only difference is that I like the forties, fifties, and sixties, and sometimes I actually dress in that fashion! A lot of people probably are wondering what is wrong with me, but I don't care that much about what they think.

on Mar. 19 2010 at 3:11 pm
Clementine SILVER, Gustavus, Alaska
5 articles 2 photos 46 comments
I really enjoyed this article. I think that you really captured the confusion and hardships that go along with finding out who you really are as a person. Wonderful writing. Brava.

on Feb. 25 2010 at 3:38 pm
fuzzybootsrawr BRONZE, New York, New York
1 article 1 photo 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

that you laugh because im different i laugh because their all the same thing is taken from another young poet

on Feb. 24 2010 at 12:55 am
scribblesinthecity BRONZE, Brooklyn, New York
4 articles 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
'Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.' -- George Santayana

i absolutely LOVE this! i love how you respect and appreciate yourself (confidence rocks!) but most of all i love your descriptions in this article. i cant even name all the tidbits i enjoyed, but i will just say that your details and comparisons where truly great, and entertaing to read (i mean that in the best way). BUT at the same time, consider this: the kind of person you describe yourself as here; quirky, different, against the norm, is almost becoming the new norm in itself. I meet girls like this all the time, and in some ways-there differences are all so similar they become the same. if that makes any sense. but i find (or at least in my part of NYC) that ppl in the in-between are who have the most fun. ;) what mean is people like me: who put some eyeliner on in the morning if i have time and always carry stawberry lip balm, but the make-up isn't for achieving the cleopatra look because a magazine told me to, but because the eyeliner helps show off my long eyelashes (aka: because some make-up can simply enhance your natural beauty). i too like "weird" music; especially for the racial stereotype (im black, btw). Im into (some) current indie-rock bands like MGMT, yet i love music from Broadway musicals and pop and hip-hop music from the 70's, 80's, and 90's. and i will admit, since we dont get too many night time stars in NY (tho we do get some pretty full moons sometimes), im more into watching the stars on the big screen-but only in movies that make me laugh, or cry, or think. And i love fashion, but i dont tend to follow the trends; i make them, and i am an obsessive bargain hunter as well. cuz i believe high-fashion doesn't have to have high prices. so the point of me telling you all this is that, tho the average girl you describe is not the way to go in my opinion either-sometimes its fun to try the thing you never would, but only as much as you feel comfortable, and if thats not at all-then thats cool too. :) (come to the land of the in-betweenies-we have cookies!) haha i just had to throw that in. sorry i wrote so much, btw i blame it on my love for writing i suppose. but in conclusion-awesome article! keep it up! and come check out my stuff if u get the chance :) biya

laurarico said...
on Jan. 11 2010 at 5:40 pm
dude, you cant just go around saying stuff about anorexic people like that. I mean i get that people are all the same i get it im pretty artsy and random. but really?! do you have to bring anorexics into this? iv been one and i know how terrible it is. sometimes its not a choice but ur struggling with it. ---laura

on Dec. 21 2009 at 10:22 am
montana PLATINUM, Parker, Colorado
41 articles 2 photos 93 comments

Favorite Quote:
cliche quotes I have are.....
I know, right? and..... Are you kidding me?

Hi. I am probably a person that you think would be the same as every one else. I think your right about being different. Sure I love putting on makeup (but I hate eyeliner) and I poof my hair up and part it to the side. But I am also the person who hates wearing jeans and the tips of my hair are dyed black. Every one thinks I am gothic. Yet they don't realize I put on makeup, and do my hair. They look at me like I have nothing in common with them. But maybe I don't because I put on makeup and do my hair because I like it that way. It's me. They put it on to be popular...

on Nov. 29 2009 at 8:54 pm
bridgeandtunnel BRONZE, Perryville, Kentucky
1 article 0 photos 1 comment
Bravo. That's all I have to say.