Why I Wear Masks: Smithville High School

Masks are apart of daily life, and in some instances they are indispensable. We all wear masks of one kind or another. When I hear the word “Mask” I think of halloween masks or a catcher's mask for baseball. This word has taken on a new meaning over the past couple years, from it meaning “a covering for all or part of the face, worn as a disguise, or to amuse or terrify other people.” to nowadays it meaning “an imaginary face you put on to pretend you are someone you really aren’t.”

We all wear masks.

I wear a mask, you wear a mask, everybody wears a mask sometime in their lives. I have a lot of experience with wearing a mask to hide who I really am, from wearing a confidence mask to show everybody that I am confident in what I’m doing

Becoming authentic is a process to begin starting to understand ourselves. To start to understand our own personality traits, values, beliefs, goals, and behaviors. It’s having enough courage to acknowledge our limitations, and embrace our own vulnerability. I knew as I entered high school this year my friends and I would be vulnerable to the upperclassmen. I knew they would be a lot more powerful than us. I wasn’t used to all of the different people, because let’s just say Smithville High School is definitely an interesting place. I’ve been exposed to so many different things so far this school year, some are positive while others are negative. Everyone knows what it’s like to feel vulnerable, and nothing about it is comfortable. Being susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm just sounds horrifying. That right there is exactly why I put my mask on, so I can conform to what society thinks. I’m not considered weak in any way shape or form. It’s considered hard in this day and age to have your own opinion because it’s so easy to go out on a social media site and say whatever I want. People don’t think before they comment back saying something along the lines of “Are you stupid?” or “That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever read.” Not everyone expresses their own feelings and emotions because they feel too vulnerable about getting attacked or criticized for having their own