Nice people finish last
Campus Times
November 21, 1997
"Girls are sugar and spice and everything nice." We have all
heard that childhood poem.
I will not sit here and pretend that all girls are nice and all boys
are asses. That is a trap that I will not waste my space with. But I do
want to point out how unfair it is when you are a nice person and no one
-- I mean, no one -- cares.
Sure, there are plenty of people who do great things for no reason and
expect absolutely nothing in return, and that is great for all those people
who get to use that person. But what if you are that nice person and you
become more and more like a rug being stepped all over than a helpful Mother
Teresa?
I think that I am a nice person and I believe that I will do almost
anything for my friends, family, sorority and co-workers, and I hope that
those who know me will vouch for me. But sometimes I think that people use
that niceness too much.
There will always be those nice people who will lend you money when
you are broke, those kind souls that will drive you to the mall when your
car is in the shop, those sweeties who are willing to go above and beyond
for you and everyone else.
Some of you can relate. How do you feel being the one everyone depends
on day in and day out? Who do you go to when things are not going your way?
Who is that kind soul who will type that paper for you when you are busy?
Even though you have practically given your right arm for someone, no one
seems to be willing to lift a finger for you.
I do not understand how some people can be so mean. I do not believe
I will ever figure out this school and all its quirks. I give my heart and
soul to so many things and to so many individuals, but I never feel like
any of that goodness matters.
My mom always told me I should treat people like I would want them to
treat me. I know it is something straight out of Sunday school, but it was
something I used to believe. Ever since I came to ULV, something has changed
in me that I never thought would. I used to be a good person. I would have
never hesitated to say that. I used to walk around my high school with a
smile on my face, and not one person would think ill upon me. I had this
motivated mindset that I would succeed at everything I did. I always thought
that things would be brighter and good things would come to those who wait.
Pretty damn stupid if you ask me.
Since my freshman year, I have transformed all my views. I have lost
that "light" that people used to see in me. I walk around now
sometimes with a smile, but more times without it. People have begun to
ask me the first question I would ask them, "What's wrong?" Instead
of loving life, I have begun to hate it and I have no idea what my part
is in it. I have become the kind of person I have always pitied and tried
to help.
Wow. How much I loathe the word "pitied", and this column
is far from asking people for pity. I will not stand for one person to look
at me and think that they need to "pity" me.
I have only a few weeks left as a student at ULV. I hope I can leave
this school and most of the elementary problems that have come along with
it. I have been asked to stay by some, and for a while I considered it.
I actually considered putting my dreams on hold. But, in the end, I have
decided that it is me who matters, and that for once I need to put me first.
In the end, it is not the "nice" girl who wins, it is the
one who pushes and pulls her way to the top.
Echelle Avelar, a junior journalism major, is photography editor
of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at avelare@ulv.edu.
