If you were to go on my Instagram,

You would see,

Pictures of me, my cat, and my team,

Along with stereotypical pic collages that comes with being eighteen.

But do you notice,

In between the lines of the captions,

And the friends you don't really know saying "@so_and_so GORGEUOS,"

The rest about me and my life?

In between the fake smiled selfies,

And the over filtered BFF pictures,

That I am a person,

A person with substance,

A person who has laughed unctrollably,

A person who has seen the Pacific and the Atlantic,

A person who can eat a large pizza on her own,

A person who has straight A's,

A person who has friends that got her the best Secret Santa present,

A person whose parents are both happily married and employed.

Yeah, all of that is fine and dandy,

But behind those smiling emoji replies back to the comments,

That I am a person,

A person with substance,

A person who cries over the broken pieces of her failed efforts,

A person who has sat whispering confessions to the seas,

A person who feels like a whale over ten too many chicken wings,

A person who becomes manic and panics over staying an AP Scholar,

A person who is there for her friends but alone when she needs them,

A person whose dad has to work five hous away in order to pay the bills.

Do my followers notice all that?

Why do I think posting this picture will make someone reach out?

Why is my life judged by my following/followers ratio?

Now I am not asking for a pity party,

Nor am I asking some rhetorical question so you contemplate the meaning of your Instagram?

I am just stating the fact that we have become consumed by the materialistic value of the "hashtag,"

And we want to display our lives as soap operas in 180 characters or less,

But we are worth more than the amount of likes we get,

I am worth more than those fake friend comments saying that I looked cute.

My avi doesn't define who I am,

Because that fake smile and filter isn't me.

I am #real,

#hardworking,

#emotional,

#sarcastic,

#loyal,

I am #human.