LET'S get loud people. It's time to make a change in our ways of thinking.

I am a student from O.B. Montessori. I think. O.B. is the kind of school that teaches one to accept people the way they are. We are taught to get to know and see ourselves in different kinds of people from various sectors of society so we will be prepared to face the real world once we graduate from school.

But high school is the time when we teenagers constantly battle with others as well as with ourselves to find our own niche in this world. So, although we are encouraged to be ourselves, it's actually a tough thing to pull off.

There are closed-minded people who put others down for looking a certain way or acting in way that they think is not proper. So sometimes we consciously or unconsciously put unnecessary pressure on ourselves.

Sometimes we feel we want to be part of the school's "in" crowd. What we don't realize is that being in the "in" crowd is not everything. Each of us has our own special qualities and it is up to us to develop these. Just be yourself. This doesn't mean that you ignore basic moral and spiritual values in life. Just be proud of who and what you are.