When we’re young, our parents and our teachers tell each and every one of us that we are unique individuals, like snowflakes and stars, each of us different in our own beautiful way. But some of us are more unique than others.
“I’m not like other girls,” first-year student Kaitlin Johnson said.
Johnson drinks full calorie Snapple rather than Diet Snapple because the chemicals in artificial sweeteners are harmful to one’s health.
Johnson smokes unfiltered cigarettes, because she “has demons to kill.”
Though she doesn’t think she believes in organized religion, she maintains that she is still a spiritual person.
“Music is my religion and my life,” Johnson said.
She emphasizes the fact that while most people say music is their life and don’t really mean it, she actually does mean what she’s saying.
“Music is literally my life. I know what the word ‘literally’ means,” she said.
Johnson scours the web for new, indie (independent) bands to promote on her blog at MyEmotionalJourney.com. Her personal favorite bands are The Smiths and The Shins.
“I really like indie—I’m sorry, that means ‘independent’—bands that start with ‘The S-,’” she said.
She first found out about The Smiths from the hit 2009 film (500) Days of Summer, which, along with Zach Braff’s Garden State (2004), changed her life. She never listens to Top 40, which she says “isn’t even music, it’s just capitalist noise,” with the exception of Beyonce, who she says is “a queen.”
She watches a lot of indie (independent) and art house films, which include the works of director Wes Anderson. Moonrise Kingdom (2012) is her favorite Anderson film, though she’s heard good things about The Royal Tenenbaums (2001).
Johnson’s favorite book is The Great Gatsby and she read it before it was even assigned in her high school English class. Johnson says she identifies with the novel’s themes of debilitating opulence and leisure.
“I know what it’s like to be objectively hot and rich and still feel sad and alone,” Johnson said.
Johnson loves vintage shopping at local thrift stores, flea markets and swap meets. She recently bought an embroidered oversized cardigan which she thinks is from “either the 50s or the 80s.” She plans to wear the sweater with tights that just ripped naturally and a pair of brand new Doc Martens which she swears are “super comfortable.”
She is “a feminist and not afraid to say it.” She follows Emma Watson on Twitter and retweets her in support of the #HeforShe feminist message.
She also supports LGBT rights and has “tons of gay and lesbian friends.”
When asked about her political beliefs, Johnson was hesitant to take a side.
“I don’t support any major political parties, because they’re basically all the same and all corrupt,” Johnson said.
Johnson did, however, support Barack Obama in 2008, as evidenced by a Facebook profile picture of her next to Shepard Ferry’s famous Obama poster and the photo’s caption which read: “Making history! We won’t rest until there is equality and no more racism!”
Johnson doesn’t like to talk about politics because it can be a “kind of explosive topic” and she doesn’t want to seem too radical. However, she currently identifies as a communist because she “really loves equality.”
In spite of her disinterest in politics, Johnson drinks imported wine from Trader Joe’s in an effort to be more globally aware.
“I’ll take some wine down to the waterfront and have a nice picnic with my three B’s: baguette, brie and Bukowski,” she said.