At my Elementary school at the end of each year we celebrated the fifth graders before sending them off to a whole new system in the Middle school. It was decided the best way to do this was to let these anxious fifth graders put on a talent show; or as we like to call it ‘The Fifth Grade Follies’. With the talent being so young it’s fair to say the acts weren’t the amazing part of this tradition. Mainly it was a group of girls dancing, a bunch of boys being ‘comedians’ and the occasional musical solo by a brave soul. Every kid in the class participated, whether it was in an act or behind the scenes setting up. Our class had much help from all the teachers but it was still satisfying seeing that we could put on such an event with a full cafeteria watching.

My three friends and I thought a dance was our best bet and the only hard thing was picking a song. In all honesty, none of us knew “The Anthem” by Good Charlotte when my older brother suggested it, but we all agreed we could easily do our dance to it. Spending all our time listening to this song on repeat to say the least, we became very familiar with it. One of the quotes really stuck with us and we often referred to it when thinking about our upcoming trip to a new school. “Do you really want to be like them? Do you really want to be another trend?” Going to a new school, with six times the amount of people was scary for us, it was practically a new world. The four of us were lucky; we had this song to keep our heads up. It reminded us that how being true to yourself is important and that comes before fitting in. When I hear that song today I can still picture the four of us dancing on stage in our matching outfits, afterwards promising to be friends forever. Now that six years have gone by things have definitely changed. I’m really grateful to say I’m still friends with two of the girls and we still play the song when we’re feeling lost to remind ourselves how to stay strong and do what we want. Too many people today care about what other people are doing, or what they will think. This song really made me see that my opinion about my life is more important than others. It also continues to give me the chance to think back on my childhood days, and for that, I’m truly grateful.