During my senior year of high school, a not so new campaign started spiraling around my school. Student council took it upon themselves to support the end of the "R" word. There were posters and videos, all stating why using the word "retarded" as a derogatory term was wrong and dehumanizing to people with mental disabilities. I signed a petition and received a sticker, vowing to never use the "R" word again.

You may also remember the Think B4 You Speak campaign.This campaign became most popular when Hilary Duff starred in a popular commercial, speaking out when she heard people using the word "gay" as an insult. The Think B4 You Speak campaign was developed to raise awareness of the common deragatory vocabulary towards the LGBTQ+ community.

I am not gay and I am not a person with a mental disability so neither of these campaigns have really hit home to me. This idea didn't really hit me until an adjective used to describe me was used in a negative way.

I'm starting a new campaign. Say no to the "H" word.

For the latter half of my life, I have been in and out of homelessness. Looking at me, you probably would not expect this. I have nice clothes. I own an iPhone and a laptop. I have a car. I am currently enrolled at a private University (that happens to be very expensive). I live in a house with a family that loves me and on the surface, my life is put together. I do not live on the street or out of a car. I do not stay in a homeless shelter nor do I have to walk miles every day to churches around the city to be able to eat a meal. Nevertheless, I have been homeless.

Now remove the image of what you think a homeless person looks like and let's talk about the actual definition of homelessness. There are many components of homelessness when looking at the public laws put forth by the United States Congress. This definition specifies that someone is defined as homeless if they "reside in a shelter" or "have nighttime residence in a private or public place not designed for or ordinarily used as regular sleeping accommodation." This part of the definition recognizes people who sleep on park benches or on the steps of libraries. But when looking at the other specifications within this definition you see that someone can be classified as homeless if they will "imminently lose their housing as evidenced by having the lack of resources necessary to reside there."

This latter category is where I fell. My freshman year of high school my mother and I were forced to move out of the condo that we had lived in since I was in kindergarten because we no longer had the resources necessary to reside there. We knew that if we did not leave on our own accord, we would be evicted. This act started our battle with homelessness for the next five years. From my freshmen year of high school to my freshmen year of college, I lived in six different residences. I will never be able to wrap my mind around the irony. During that time we had six homes but our condition, classified by the law, was one of homelessness. We never lived on the street. We never ate a meal at a homeless shelter. Almost every night we slept in a bed, with a roof over our heads. Despite living paycheck to paycheck, sometimes having $20 to fill both cars up with gas and to eat until Friday, we never went hungry. Through all the money struggles, I never let anyone know that in the blink of an eye, my mother and I could no longer have a place to live.

A few weeks ago my friends and I were planning to go out. I don't really remember where we were going or what we were going to do but those details are irrelevant. I do remember however a friend saying that she needed to change before we left because she "looked like a homeless person." Immediately I felt uncomfortable. My other friends laughed and we waited for her to fix her hair and change her clothes. Although I did not say anything to challenge her, the phrase stuck with me for the rest of the day. For the first time, I resonated with the people behind the popular.

My friend, as innocently as can be, was implying that she looked ugly or gross or bad or dirty. But instead of using any of those words, she decided to use a word that didn't mean any of those things. She used a word to describe someone that simply doesn't have a place to live; and I was offended by that.

The specifics of my story aren't necessary to the point that I am trying to make. I don't share to bring attention to my struggles or to make you feel guilty for thinking one way or another about homelessness. I share to provide context. The word homeless is an adjective that will always be a part of my story. Because of the negative connotation of the "H" word in society, people will always look at me in a certain way because of this adjective.

Someone's worth is never to be subjected to a single adjective.

In society today, political correctness is practically forced down our throats. So why should you listen to me telling you of another word to eliminate from your vocabulary in order to avoid hurting someone's feelings? Maybe you shouldn't. But our words are often closely correlated to the condition of our hearts. It's not necessarily the words that we say, but the implications that come with them.

So I propose to you an alternative solution. Instead of spitefully adding "homeless" to the list of words that we're not allowed to say because it might offend someone, let's consider the why. Why are those words on the list and what can we gain by being intentional in not saying them? Well, for starters, we can avoid many altercations with relentless political correctness advocates. If you're anything like me, conversations of that kind are always worth dodging. Deeper than that, dare I say, we can gain a greater sense of respect? By acknowledging that we are using human characteristics and unfavorable circumstances interchangeably with negative adjectives, we are admitting that we are equating entire groups of people to the meaning of "bad".

We have a responsibility to think before we speak. That will look differently for every person. For me, that means being open to criticism. Instead of being turned off by someone pointing out words that I have said that offend them, I will take time to listen in attempts to understand the why. I will continue to add words to my list not because I care about what PC culture has to say about it but because I care about the people being affected by the things that I say.

Don't wait until an adjective describing you gets added to the list to realize that the ideas behind political correctness aren't about politics at all. They're about respect. Look past political agendas and social media campaigns and recognize that there are real people behind these words. Although these words may not have implications on you, the fact that they can have an extremely negative effect on someone else should be something to care about. Not because we are liberal or conservative or religious or not, but because we are humans with worth and a right to be heard.