In high school, every single person is trying to be their own person while simultaneously trying to fit into the in-crowd. However, one thing that just about everyone has in common as they walk down those halls is braces. There were very few students in my high school who hadn't had braces at some point in their lives. Everyone had the same pains, the same empathies, the horror stories.

Everyone but me.

I was one of those few who hadn't had braces. I'd had a retainer thing in middle (or was it elementary?) school but it wasn't the same. My stories were nowhere near as painful or long as those of the braces club. And no, I didn't not have braces because my teeth were the epitome of straight and perfect. I didn't have braces because my first dentist said they weren't necessary. By the time I got to a dentist that did say they were, indeed, something important, my sister's teeth were even worse off than mine.

Fast forward, a couple years, and here I am. About to finish my sophomore year of college with a metal mouth. I will finish my junior year with a metal mouth. If all goes well, I will enter my senior year minus the metal. Don't take this the wrong way. I am not, by any means, complaining about my braces or how late I'm getting them. My parents did what they had to do and I'm grateful for their willingness to do this for me.

So, again, I'm not complaining but simply documenting my past couple of weeks. My journey started with x-rays of my mouth and pictures of my jaw over spring break. Then I got spacers - little rubber bands shoved between my teeth, forcing the darn things to move - the week before Easter break. FYI, if you've never had braces or anything of the sort, spacers hurt more than the braces themselves. After having the spacers for a week, I came back for Easter Break. That Friday I had a tooth extracted to make room for movement. The following Monday, they put the braces on.

For me, it was a very fast process overall. The time at the Orthodontist's office really wasn't all that overwhelming. It's the time afterward. For most of April, I have been unable to chew without pain somewhere in my mouth. That limits much of a human's diet, in case you didn't know. Which means I've been living like a real college student, instead of the spoiled one that I am.

I ate pudding for breakfast, every day. For lunch and dinner, mashed potatoes and rice. Alternating some days. Some days just eating the same thing for both meals. Some days, I needed more so I spent two hours eating five pieces of small chicken from a Chinese restaurant. A little later in the month, I spent two and a half hours eating 15 pizza rolls or four slices of pizza (not including the crust, I couldn't eat that no matter how long I tried).

Life is a bit better now. It doesn't take me quite as long to eat pizza and I finally finished my order from the chinese place after about four days of working on it. I actually had some chicken wings last night. It took me a while to finish off ten of those but I was also experimenting with different sauces so that's part of the issue.

All in all, I'm excited for what this metal will do for me. I've always been a bit self-conscious about my smile, even though I've been assured that no one noticed until I pointed it out. I can't wait to get them off and see what they've done for me. But until then, I'll deal with my limited selection of food, learning to eat again, the stupid rubber bands that rub my cheeks and the BOP that is amazing at catching and storing food until I take it out.