My shoes are purple. Not because I want to stand out, but because then I am not taken too seriously. This is necessary since I am very shy in public, and few classmates have seen me smile. My shoes are purple and shiny, with pink stripes running along the sides. Not because I have no taste, but because they make me laugh.

This year I am in Drama class. I rarely speak in public. My acting is an embarrassment. But I have watched other classes perform, and they always make me smile. I want to be with them, up on stage in my shiny purple shoes, laughing at myself. And maybe someday I will learn to speak in public. Maybe I will ­become an actor. But for now I will just get comfortable. On the stage under the heat of the spotlights with my purple shoes shining, I will smile.

I know that I will do well in Drama class. I always do well. But still, I take nothing for granted. I start warily, unsmiling, in my bright purple shoes with the pink stripes. Then slowly and steadily, I build up my skills, my confidence, my laughter. I know it will all work out in the end. So I might as well enjoy myself.

I have many hobbies, and some of them even interest me. I have, at different stages of my life, played the trumpet, the violin, the piano; I have played soccer, basketball, tennis; I have made movies, written stories, and built small machines that amuse me with their mindless antics. I have traveled widely, both in and out of the country. I have slept in the woods, sung songs around a campfire, and paddled a canoe.

I still have no fixed interests. That is why my shoes used to be blue, then orange, and are now purple. But I am fixed upon doing my best, and my inward laughter has never ceased.