Hear Me As I Am Essay

â€Å"What’s that you’re playing on the piano, Aubrey?† I asked my friend at a sleepover at her house. â€Å"It’s ‘Love Song’ by Sara Bareilles.† â€Å"Oh, I haven’t heard of that.† Little did I know I had heard that song before – I just didn’t recognize it. A few weeks passed and I recognized a certain type of piano playing on the radio. Aubrey plays this song, I realized. I listened to the song and I remember loving it and wanting to listen to it again. A couple months later, I watched American Idol, and the song is performed several times. A few more months pass and it’s January 2009; my parents decide to buy me an iPod. Later, I put the song on my iPod, and it becomes a favorite of mine that I realize has a lot of meaning – unlike many songs made today. That was how I came to know Sara Bareilles and her biggest hit, â€Å"Love Song.† â€Å"You are not what I thought you were†¦Ã¢â‚¬  – this was probably the most meaningful part of the whole song for me, because this was how Sara Bareilles stressed reality. Many people and advertisements today disguise themselves with lies that are not always that easy to see through. In this case the singer is talking about a person, most likely a boyfriend. And it’s true – many people today put on a fake front to try to appeal to others, like on the Internet or in Hollywood, but when you really get to know the person you discover that they aren’t what you originally thought them to be. I have experienced that with â€Å"friends† with whom I would later find out weren’t my friends at all because they really didn’t care about me or my feelings. In Sara’s situation, and in many other situations, one person is looking for real love and is serious, but the other isn’t. Hiding what you are is something that has deeply, negatively affected and continues to affect myself and many other unfortunate people. But it is a fact of life and needs to be dealt with, so I am happy that at least one other person besides me sees the truth of the matter. â€Å"Convinced me, to please you, Made me think that I need this too, I’m trying to let you Hear me as I am†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is my favorite section out of this song because in it Sara Bareilles shows that she’s just trying to be herself. I admire someone who is themselves because it shows that they aren’t afraid of other people’s criticism. I try to do the same but sometimes it can be very difficult and it’s easy to be pressured to â€Å"blend in† with the crowd. Intimate friends can â€Å"convince [you]† to please them and others around you, but they are really not your friends if they don’t â€Å"hear [you] as [you are]† or respect your morals and ethics. Sara is letting people know that she’s not going to let anyone mess with her, and I admire that. The overall meaning of this song for me was that people need to be their own individual person. This includes not doing things just because others ask you to, but deciding for yourself whether or not it goes along with your morals and values. Like Sara, I wouldn’t write someone a love song just because they asked me to – I would wait until I found a person who really cared. Instead, Sara stood up for herself and made sure that the other person knew how she really felt. That is something that I strive to do and I hope that others do too. I do realize that it’s easier to do things when everyone else is, but that’s where your inner strength comes in. Ask yourself, do I value my friends ideas more than what I know is right or wrong? Doing this involves your conscience, and if it has been trained properly, you will make the right decision. What I mainly want my classmates to get out of my presentation – and I don’t think I’ve stressed this enough at all – is that you need to be yourself. I notice that many of my classmates feel that they have to have the latest shirt form American Eagle of that they have to get the latest song from some singer on their iPod. But focusing on these little things isn’t what’s going to get you friends and it doesn’t make you any happier. What is important is that you have your own style and way of life, and not copy everyone else. Like Hunter said the other day, â€Å"If everyone were the same, life would be pretty boring.† Well, it’s not an â€Å"if†, and because of that people need to pay attention to themselves and make sure they are not carbon copies of each other. With my friends, I don’t care what their clothes look like or what music they prefer to listen to. I care what their morals are, what their personal interests are, and if they are a good friend. But even if my classmates don’t listen to me, I’m going to care, and that’s what makes all the difference.