Doc Tyler

One of my friends wants to be me. I wear a headband to breakfast and when I see her at lunch, she is suddenly wearing a headband, too. I hook up with a guy, and she hooks up with that guy weeks later. This is out of control, I can’t stand it anymore. I want to live my own life, and I do not want to be imitated. Quite frankly, one of me is enough on this campus.

-Mimicked in Mayo

Dear Mimicked,

As they say, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Perhaps your friend, through imitating your life, is attempting to express her admiration and envy of you. Once, when I was a student, one of my fellow classmates attempted a similar regimen of imitation. In the end, of course, I went on to academic greatness, and he became a manure salesman in New Hampshire. So take heart. Often in situations such as yours, the imitated is truly the superior individual. You must simply strive to be better each and every day.