McCandless Project

For my social project, I came to school without any makeup. On a regular basis, I don’t wear a lot of comparison in comparison to others, but I do wear enough to be noticed. I usually wear foundation/concealer or BB cream, and Kohl or liquid eyeliner, and mascara. Coming into the experiment, I expected one or two people to notice. I have worn no makeup to school before, and only one person noticed. This time, no one noticed or said anything. I can humbly say that I feel no different whether I wear makeup or not. However, because I was aware that this is was for an experiment, I was anticipating a comment or two throughout the day. I was somewhat surprised that the people I talk to on a daily basis didn’t notice because a few of them noticed last time. Due to results, or lack thereof, the next day I decided to wing out my eyeliner, which I have only done once before. This isn’t too different from what I normally do. Again, I didn’t expect anyone to notice, but I did get a compliment. Overall, none of these results were especially surprising.

When it comes to societal norms, I wholeheartedly agree with McCandless’ views. To some extent, societal norms play a huge part in a generation. If you were to compare all of norms across the continent and throughout time, you would very seldom find two identical ideas. The societal norms of each generation are what make it unique. However I believe that they do more harm than good. In a country, especially the United States, we have freedom. Freedom is a privilege. In a country where we have the ability to express our true personas, why should we bury them with superficial laws? I believe there is no use for these unnecessary rules because they only limit what we are truly capable of doing. I do not think we need to follow these extra guidelines because they do no harm to other people. They are not created for the safety of people. Based on my results, I do not think we should have to comply to social standards. You should not feel obliged to live up provide an explanation for how you dress. In conclusion, breaking a social norm will not hurt anyone, so you should feel confident in your own skin and style.

“There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.

But sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life. 

That is the sort of bravery I must have now.”

I stumbled upon this quote when I read Allegiant by Veronica Roth about a year ago (372 days, but who’s counting?).  After I read this paragraph, I had to stop and think about it. I decided I really liked what it meant and taped it on my wall. (I still have it on my wall today.) I love quotes, but I chose this one because these words have helped me through a lot when things got hard.  This quote isn’t really representative at the first glance- it seems more like advice, or reassurance. When you hear the word “bravery”, many people think of superheroes risking their lives or firefighters venturing into raging fires. But bravery does not have to be dangerous, it only needs to require physical or mental willingness to overcome an obstacle. Sometimes that obstacle isn’t obvious- there are days when you’re tired of everything and hate yourself, and it takes bravery to overcome this exhaustion and go to school. This quote told me that sometimes bravery doesn’t mean risking your life; you don’t need to be supernatural to be brave. There are times where it takes a lot of courage to face the pressure and expectations of your family and society. And if I didn’t do anything specifically productive that day, this passage told me it was great that I woke up that morning. If I continued to live my life according to this quote, I think I would gain more confidence to do little things that still require bravery- whether it be standing up to someone or taking a risk. So far, this quote has given me hope and helped me believe in myself, and I think it will continue to do so in the future.