Today was my final day of high school, and my final day of grade school. I will be going to college in August for motion picture production. And I made it through high school without ever growing out of my American Girl dolls.
I am posting this because so many people out there think that growing up means you have to abandon your dolls. They think that once you hit college, you have to leave the American Girl fandom and go on to adulting. They think that even the upper grades of elementary school is too old for American Girl.
That, my friends, is pure and utter baloney.
I fell in love with American Girl dolls nearly a decade ago, when a friend spotted my sister's old dolls in the toy room. We started playing with them constantly, and soon after that, I started this blog and started making American Girl videos. My parents were fighting, but at least I still had a few friends and my dolls. But by the time we were done with fourth grade, that friend had abandoned me. No one thought American Girl was cool anymore. They had all moved on to Starbucks and shopping and boys.
Middle school was more of the same. I secretly hated myself, despite loving my dolls, because I felt alone. No one liked the stuff I did, especially American Girl dolls. And even when I found friends that liked the same shows I did, they still thought my American Girl dolls were somewhat weird. I even considered giving up then, just so I could fit in with them.
But in high school, I realized that I couldn't. Sure, I was growing up. My filmmaking style was maturing, I was trying to break into my dream career into different ways. But even if I express it in different ways than I used to, American Girl will forever and always be an important part of me. I don't care if I'm judged for my dolls anymore, and yet, I'm finding supportive people in my life who love me for my dolls. My film mentor thinks it's cool I love American Girl, and so does my future college roommate and a bunch of my friends who I will be with in college. I love it when new American Girl stuff releases, I love reading the books and watching the movies, I love dressing up my dolls and setting them up in different sets, I love taking photos and making videos with them ... I love everything about them.
That part of myself will never go away, and even though I'm growing up, I will forever accept that part of me, no matter how old I get.
Anyways, I'm relieved that high school is over!