Every two weeks, when one of my blogs gets published on The Pitt News website, I send it to my Grandma. About five minutes later, as if on cue, I receive a call. 

“I know I tell you this every time,” she says, “but you are far from average.” If you didn’t catch on, she’s referring to my blog name.

I always explain to her, “It just means that what I write is relatable,” but I can’t help but think, “What’s so bad about being average?” 

My wardrobe consists of straight-leg jeans, Aerie flare leggings, white sneakers, and Pitt merch. I love Starbucks coffee, thrift shopping, and my favorite animal is a dog. 

I am an average girl.

Sure, I have certain things that make me special. I spend more time reading than my friends, I pride myself on being from New Jersey, and I have a talent for cake decorating, but at the end of the day, I like being similar to my peers.

I have friends of different religions, ethnicities, and sexualities. All these things make us different and special. So why do we still fear being called “basic” or “average”? Thrift shopping and my love for coffee are things that I have in common with people who are otherwise different from me. Being basic allows me to celebrate my own differences and my friends’ by connecting us in other ways.

My friend recently started cutting some of her T-shirts and sweatshirts into off-the-shoulder tops. Not long after, I found myself sorting through T-shirts at Goodwill searching for ones that would look good off the shoulder. Maybe this is basic, maybe it’s copying, or maybe it’s just admiration of a cute style. 

Coming to the University of Pittsburgh and meeting new people has taught me just how different we all are. For example, I have become overly aware of my New Jersey accent. I can’t say the word “water” without thinking twice about the way I’m pronouncing it. Until recently, I had only been surrounded by people who spoke the same way as me, so I never knew I pronounced certain words differently. 

My friends may pronounce it “water” and I pronounce it “wuter,” they may celebrate Christmas and I celebrate Hanukkah, but we all think off-the-shoulder tops are cute.

On multiple occasions, I have been scrolling on TikTok and come across a relatable video that has made me think, “I have never had an original thought in my life.” Then, I open up the comment section and the most liked comment is, “I have never had an original thought in my life.” I continue reading and find that thousands of people are thinking the same exact thing as me. On a platform that has over one billion users, it can be assumed that each person differs. But somehow, this video has managed to unite millions of us with just one relatable opinion or experience.

So, Grandma, if you’re reading this, which I know you are because I’m going to send it to you, thank you for wanting to make me feel special. I love you for always supporting me, but I’m proud to be an average girl.