Original photo by D Sharon Pruitt

Nobody can deny that Starbucks is the leading coffee company in our country. But what’s the deal with teenage girls and Starbucks? Starbucks has become more than just a coffee shop for teenage girls; rather, it’s another aspect of personal style. Walk into school with your North Face backpack, out-of-bed messy ponytail that you secretly spent 20 minutes trying to make look perfect, with the Nars bronzer not overdone and a Venti skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks, and you’ve suddenly become the coolest girl in the school.

Little does anybody [ ...continue reading ]]]>

Original photo by D Sharon Pruitt

Nobody can deny that Starbucks is the leading coffee company in our country. But what’s the deal with teenage girls and Starbucks? Starbucks has become more than just a coffee shop for teenage girls; rather, it’s another aspect of personal style. Walk into school with your North Face backpack, out-of-bed messy ponytail that you secretly spent 20 minutes trying to make look perfect, with the Nars bronzer not overdone and a Venti skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks, and you’ve suddenly become the coolest girl in the school.

Little does anybody know that you secretly hate the taste of coffee. But for some people, that doesn’t stop them. You want everybody to think that you’re drinking the coffee to wake you up from your endless night of studying, when secretly you recorded “Gossip Girl” on your DVR because you were in bed by 9 o’clock. Somehow, the Starbucks cup in your hand has become your ticket to one of the top Ivys in the country.

In the past couple of years, the good grades stereotypically go to the girl who stayed up the latest studying. You automatically feel threatened by the girl who studied for two hours more than you when—before talking to her—you felt prepared for the test.

Don’t let the unhealthy habits of other girls influence the way you make your decisions. Not only is sleep one of the most important elements in succeeding on tests or getting through the school day aware, but also caffeine stunts growth and becomes a habit rather than a fashion statement.

The next time you see the girl holding the Venti Starbucks and claiming that she stayed up until 4 a.m. studying, remember to stay true to yourself and the way that you have been succeeding thus far. Ask yourself this question: Has it ever let me down? And if the answer is no, Starbucks or no Starbucks, you are going places.

The people, places and stories you are about to see are all real…at least the way I see it.

Love & Rockets,

Morgan

P.S. MTV made me do this.

Between keeping my grades up, my ski schedule, cheerleading and my family and friends, my life is insanely busy. Monday night at 10:30 p.m., though, is my guilty pleasure: “My Life as Liz” is on MTV. (You really should set your TiVo or DVR.)

The show asks, Do you feel alone? Do you think you’re an outcast? It inspires the girl who feels like a [ ...continue reading ]]]>

The people, places and stories you are about to see are all real…at least the way I see it.

Love & Rockets,

Morgan

P.S. MTV made me do this.

Between keeping my grades up, my ski schedule, cheerleading and my family and friends, my life is insanely busy. Monday night at 10:30 p.m., though, is my guilty pleasure: “My Life as Liz” is on MTV. (You really should set your TiVo or DVR.)

The show asks, Do you feel alone? Do you think you’re an outcast? It inspires the girl who feels like a loner to realize that other girls feel the same way.

Liz Lee is a girl from Burleson, Texas, who used to be part of the “in” crowd. That changed when she found people she actually clicked with. The show follows the journey that is her senior year. She’s doing anything she can to fight off the popular kids while hanging out with a shy kid from AP English named Bryson (shhh, don’t tell anyone, but she likes him).

For quite some time, I thought that if I put on a front that “I’m a cheerleader,” I’d be accepted. But I’m definitely not the snobby, skinny thing everyone makes cheerleaders out to be. It turns out I spend the littlest amount of time possible with the girls on my squad. They are very self-absorbed. All they seem to care about is how short the skirts are and how hot No. 21 on the basketball team is. I sit alone every other day in the lunchroom. I would be so glad to have Liz at my school, because I feel like she feels the same way I do. (But in a way, I am stuck in the character Taylor Terry’s world. She wants to be friends with Liz, but her friends threaten to kick her out of their group.)

Yeah, so, I have guy friends. But I don’t get asked out and, no, I do not have a boyfriend. No one even wants to be my lab partner in biology. I feel like they think they’re better than me because I’m nice to the kids who have issues of their own, and the “poplars” think that’s gross. I am really quiet during the school day. I think school is meant for learning and growing up and not deciding on who you will marry at 15.

I am willing to say hi to anyone, but sometimes the responses are not G-rated. For example, I’ll have a lot of books and the gym door will be shut and I’ll ask someone to hold it, and they’ll accuse me of being a b——. Still, I somehow ended up with over a thousand friends on Facebook. I don’t get out much because I am attached to my 1990s Dell computer that’s been temporarily slowed down thanks to my brother’s “Call of Duty” craze. (I guess you could say I’m like the peanut butter and the Dell is the jelly here.) I own a cell phone. I do not have an iPod, hence my obsession with YouTube. I listen to almost anything and also wear pretty much anything, from preppy all the way down to leopard-print pants and oversize T-shirts. I wear glasses; I just don’t like things near or in my eyes, so no contacts. (Not to mention how my glasses look like 1980s pop-out-type shades that are making their way on back.)

Liz reminds me that from someone else’s perspective I could appear perfectly happy, even if I feel otherwise. But I have no choice but to be me, so I’m going to be me, and you can be you. I tell myself to break free of that clique mold.

There will always be the girl with the cutest bag, highest heels and what have you, or the football player with the varsity jacket who you wish would someday hold your hand. That’s never going away.

Watching “Liz” shows me that I can be a cheerleader but still rock my bleached camp T with my nickname across the back. I’m going to live “My Life as Morgan.” Hey, that does have a ring to it…MTV?