The title says it all, right? Wrong. From the meaningful three words so meticulously picked out to fit the piece's message, one would assume that the article would be an imperfect piece about accepting imperfections in our daily lives. However, the context of the work was the total opposite. "(Not) Chasing Perfection" by Kellsey Clark was an essay essentially about correcting the common misconception that perfectionists are flawless, and how "perfect" is an intangible, overused word that should not apply to anything a human being does, creates, acts, dresses, or the like. My major conflict with the author was that she rambles on about how faultlessness is nonexistent, yet she produces a piece on the matter that can only be accurately defined as perfection. I have never read an article in Teen Ink, or any magazine for that matter, that impeccably captures the absence of perfection in daily life, and gives readers much insight into coping with her life of perfectionism, false statements, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Kellsey, thank you for bringing me on a beautiful journey with sharp turns and unintended bumps, yet no dead ends, on what it is like to live as you.

This piece stood out from the bunch to me because it provided examples from Kellsey's life that acknowledged why people make mistakes when believing perfectionists are perfect. She cannot blame them because we are surrounded by lies regularly in sources we are told to be credible, but our true gullibility shines through when we fall for these in books such as dictionaries. She uses powerful word choice and evokes strong emotions by developing her opening line: "I cringe as I type definitions like, 'An exemplification of supreme excellence' (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary) or 'A special feature or quality that confers superiority' (Roget's II The New Thesaurus). With such a hook, I could not inhibit my eyes from scanning through the remainder of the words on the page. This was the essay meant for me to find. Then, my faith in the writer was confirmed when she made such a sudden turn-around, explaining that these fibs are not at all true, and goes into her own life to prove her point. I was fully persuaded by the time I had finished reading. She used such sophisticated phrasing in lines such as "Perfect. I'm getting kind of sick of that word." and "I'm not perfect, but I strive to be excellent, and that makes all the difference." So many times in my school life, I am mistaken for being perfect. After all, I study excessively, am annoyingly organized, and am such a grammar nazi. Nevertheless, these qualities do not imply perfection. So often, my classmates will shoot me a hard, intimidating glare when a teacher even mentions the words "extra credit". Sure, it's nice to receive a compliment occasionally, but I know I am as far from perfection as the North Pole is from the South. Kellsey has an abundance of similar characteristics to me, and it was consoling to know that I will never be alone. Overall, I owe a huge thank you to Kellsey Clark for creating this innovative work, and I hope others were positively affected by it as much as I was. Stay imperfect, girl!