While attending a school of the arts, you are destined to come across various individuals who posses something that sets them apart from the homogeneous masses; whether that be stylistically or in the personalistic sense. Teens today, often times, have an innate desire to be viewed as unique, different, or “artsy.”

However, this inherent desire to be seen as unique also comes with an inherent fear: a fear of being overshadowed by someone who is possibly more unique or artsy. Whether if it is initiated by a glowing goddess on your Instagram feed or someone’s ‘oh so coordinated’ outfit at school, the almost immediate afterthought is that you feel like an unalluring potato.

Though you could blame this growing issue on social media and the idea of comparing oneself to another, the problem is more extensive than that. In understanding what makes people unique, the constant comparison would end, leaving us with a newfound familiarity of ourselves. Our little knowledge on this topic is what is hindering such self growth. It’s not the amount of glitter on our eyelids or the bold colors we wear that makes us unique, but the things we can’t see;our backgrounds, interests, and habits. What has the ability to makes us cry or laugh in hysterics. It’s our personal composition recognized only through exposure and interaction.

My sense of fashion, though the extreme adoration I have for it, is not the only thing that makes me unique. I’m unique for loving to eat tomatoes like apples, or even dedicating one day out of the month to solely listen to “New Edition”. There is no piece of clothing or accessory that could convey this.
So no, you’re not an unalluring potato, because we’re all unique by default. There’s no set “look” to uniqueness, because how we appear on our exterior plays a small role in how complex we really are. As creatives, comparison may be vital to our artistic process’, but it harms our very well being. The moment we begin to realize that we are all unique for our way of thinking, the way we perceive things, or even our own beliefs, the battered term “basic” will be removed from millennial vocabulary and cease to have its previous meaning.