Masuk Free Press

To me, and probably many other students, this is one of the worst times of the year. The days seem to drag on and a week takes an eternity to pass. With my recent attendance being unreliable at best, I knew I needed to do something to give me a push for the end of the month… and make sure I stop skipping school. So, what better way to do both of these than make each day uniquely stressful?

The last week of April, from the 24th to the 28th, I let other people choose what I wore to school. I gave the five people a list of options from my own house, but also allowed them to choose something of theirs that they would want me to borrow. Some of the choices were definitely out of the ordinary, to put it nicely. Here’s how my week went.

Day 1:

Monday’s outfit, pictured above, was chosen by my brother, Tomas Micu. This outfit was definitely not bad compared to those later in the week, but it also was not one of the good ones. I thought it was the best way to start the week without too much anxiety, but I did find myself basically soiling myself walking into school with the unrealistic idea that everyone would be staring at me.

Walking in, I remember feeling especially self conscious, even though literally no one could care less on a Monday morning. We were assigned groups in my AP Gov. class, and it got to the point where I was scared to talk so as to not draw extra attention to myself. That was something I thought I had gotten past a while ago, but Monday brought me straight back to the worst part of 2021-2022: my mute era.

Something that originally brought me some comfort was the fact that my brother had worn this shirt out multiple times before without any worries. Matched with a pair of sweatpants, the outfit kind of just looked like I came to school in pajamas. 

However, as my friend, sophomore Siobhan Riordan, commented, “Guys just like, wear bummy clothes and no one cares and it seems normal, but when girls do it people are like ‘Why did you just roll out of bed and come to school?’”

Excluding those few things, Monday was a pretty mild start to the week, but reminded me how easily I get stressed out over things that should really not matter.

Day 2:

Definitely one of the better outfits of the week, Tuesday’s was chosen by Chloe DuBois, my friend and sophomore at Masuk.

Though this style is new to me this year, I remember wearing the turtleneck-sweater combo to school at one point last year. It was interesting to go back to it for a day, but also definitely was not uncomfortable in any way, unlike some of the other outfits. The sweater was warm and cozy and the jeans are one of my favorite pairs.

Where I found my issue on this day was in the morning. I have never been a morning person, but I am especially not a morning person at six a.m. on a Tuesday after dragging myself out of bed on five hours of sleep. In fact, most of my lack of outfit creativity stems from me never having the will to put on nice clothes that early. So even with my outfit already planned out, it took an impressive amount of time and willpower to put on a pair of cold jeans. 

I also allowed these five people to choose any jewelry for me to wear throughout the week. Tuesday marked the start of me giving that up. I rushed out of the house forgetting to put in my earrings, and even so, was still late to school.

Day 3:

Out of all the options, Wednesday’s outfit was probably the most similar to what I usually wear. It was chosen by my friend, sophomore Gabriella Assignon. 

Another issue in the morning occurred this day, this time revolving around the fact that I did not plan out which outfit to wear the night before. I was not mentally prepared to wear one of the worst ones, but also knew it was best to not leave the dreaded outfits for last. 

Still, my sleep-fogged brain decided on the easiest option. It also took its time in doing so. Yet again, I was walking out of the house with my shoes half off, staring at the seconds hand of the clock widget on my phone. I was late to school that day, of course.

Despite the outfit style being very familiar to me, Wednesday was my first time ever wearing that specific tank top. The only issue I had with it throughout the day was not being sure whether I should pull it up more or down more. But the dilemma only really affected me when I started overthinking it. The top fit perfectly fine, and the outfit was very comfortable.

Day 4:

On Thursday finally came part one of what I had been dreading all week: Ariq Rahman’s outfit. Pictured above, this outfit was a horrific layering of a black t-shirt, off the shoulder crop top and red cardigan. It was paired with gray sweatpants and, perhaps the most notable feature, black heels.

“I styled you pretty much how I style myself,” Rahman lied. “It was pretty difficult to style someone through a google form, and it didn’t turn out exactly how I imagined, but it was overall a good experience.”

Well, it was not a good experience for me.

I think I recall being close to tears walking into school that day. Not only did I have a math test first period, but I also had a unit test in Chemistry later in the day. As you can tell, Thursday was a really fun time.

Thankfully, there is only so much my brain can actively worry about! The stress from my two tests either took away from or mixed in with the anxiety about wearing that shitshow, and walking to class, I found myself too tired and done with everything to be overly concerned about people staring at me. 

Also, the sweater was honestly really comfortable. I cannot say the same for the heels.

Throughout the day, the outfit was definitely something that I was aware of, but it became apparent that most people did not notice or simply did not care. I was not getting any remarks about it from people who did not know about the challenge, so I convinced myself no one was noticing. 

Well, that wasn’t exactly true.

After school, I got a text from freshman Abigail Graham, who picked Friday’s outfit. It read, “Elise asked me if you thought your outfit was a look”.

No, Elise. No, I did not.

That text was a pleasant reminder of the countless people who may have still noticed my clothes that day. To all of you guys, please know I would never willingly mix heels and sweatpants.

Day 5:

Saving the best for last, Friday’s outfit was chosen by my friend, Graham. It featured one of her favorite shirts, which she generously let me borrow for the day.

The morning started strong with me not being able to stop laughing at myself in the hallway. I pretended to be on my phone and tried to hunch over to hide the design, but I knew the shirt was still visible and was left with a strong yet funny feeling of embarrassment. 

The worst part about this day was me constantly thinking about what other people thought of the outfit, particularly directed towards those who knew me, but did not know me well enough to know I was wearing the shirt as a joke. To this day I still worry that they think I am a cat girl. Thanks, Graham.

I later had to sit alone in Spanish class, as both the people who usually sit with me were out that day. So that period was spent alone, in a cat shirt, at the front of the classroom. I think it was the most humbling experience of my life.

Conclusion:

I told myself Sunday night that any social anxiety I had better disappear by the end of the week. Well, it did not, but the mere act of doing this did teach me something. It would have been unthinkable to eighth grade me that I would EVER willingly draw attention to myself. So while I am not a new person after doing this challenge, I do like to think that it marked an important development from my previous mute, anxiety-wrecked self. 

I am also still here. My life has not drastically changed. Despite how stressful some of those days were, despite how many people made comments about me in their head or whispered to their friends, my life is not any worse than it was a month ago. On a large scale, this showed me that the opinions of others really do not have the power to affect my life unless I let them. 

It has always been my far-fetched dream to live by the motto that nothing really matters. However stupid this week was, I think it may have been a step in the right direction.