I am not weak-minded, restraining my beliefs, my opinions, my thoughts.
I am just soft-spoken,
regarding the thoughts pacing through my mind, unheard, untouched.

I am not a bombastic Christian who will try to force my religious views onto others, carrying a Holy Bible
and shouting diatribes by calling others sinful Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics.
I am respectful,
letting the outlooks of others seep through my mind,
allowing me to get a glimpse of the world’s diversity,
the various colors that keep the world from being dull.

I am not prejudiced,
praising the extremists for their rather horrific acts, such as burning people on crosses
or placing Jewish people in concentration camps
and shunning others of a different race, separating myself from them on the public bus.
Instead, I praise those who appreciate what the world has to give
with its many ethnicities.

I am not stereotypical, placing individuals of society in a box
as if they were worth nothing more than a sliver of paper,
judging by the immature categories people have developed,
labeling people as if they were Campbell’s soup cans.
Rather, I gain an understanding of the people surrounding me,
allowing them to prove themselves.

I do not follow the footsteps of my ancestors to serve our country, wearing camouflage and witnessing deaths of the brave others in war.
I do not fulfill the ambitions people expect of me.
I set my own goals, my own aspirations, my own life.

I am not the typical teenage girl that allows images on television
from America’s Next Top Model,
and magazines featuring pictures of Paris Hilton to distort my body,
pressuring me to be thin, thinner, thinnest by battling eating disorders, starving myself as if I were a less fortunate adolescent
that may not even be able to consume anymore food than a sparrow does each day.
In fact, the women truly deserving of recognition inspire me.
The ones that strived to be what they wanted to,
not allowing pressures to hinder them,
who try to make a difference.

I do not abolish what comes to my mind just because I do not orally speak them,
because I am quiet.
I write with a passion to let out what I think,
as if the words flowed out of my mouth
But instead they come from my heart,
and that way, nobody can interrupt me.