It is no surprise that every college student deals with some sort of insecurity as they enter the early years of adulthood. In your first year, when you are fresh out of high school and trying to find yourself, it is a struggle to find confidence in a new and scary place. But in the past four years, one thing has been made very clear to me. No one thinks they’re as cool as you think they are, and if they do…they probably still don’t.
Now this might sound a bit too general and sweeping of a statement, but I say this in the name of comfort. When I first arrived at Vassar, I automatically thought that everyone was cooler than me. I mean how could I not? Everyone had cool thrifted outfits, random pieces of their hair dyed and helix piercings. In short, they were all cool. Yes, I know these assumptions may seem shallow, but what would you expect from an 18-year-old who had never been away from home before? Now, I say as someone who wears thrifted clothes, has random pieces of their hair dyed and has a helix piercing, these things do not make someone cool.
Yet, it seems to me that this is a trap that everyone at this godforsaken school falls into. So I propose this: No one is cool and, therefore, everyone is. Now this might sound cheesy and genuine, but I assure you that it is not. This sentiment is meant to be pessimistic and cynical, and I hope that my dearly beloved readers catch my drift.
This is not to say that coolness doesn’t exist. We live in a world with Liam and Noel Gallagher and in which “Avatar” is the highest grossing movie of all time. If that world doesn’t sound cool, I don’t know what does.
I aim to say this: You are not cooler than anyone else, so therefore no one is cooler than you. No matter how much Carhartt you wear or how high your Doc Marten platforms are, coolness comes from within. Unless you are a Philadelphia Eagles fan.