Thoughts on my essay ?

Uniqueness. "He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away." Individuality. "A man who does not think for himself does not think at all." Distinctiveness, independence, thinking for one's self. These words all describe one divisive topic: non-conformity. Notorious historians, fictional characters, everyday peers, and individuals recognized on the news day after day all have struggled with the same controversy: to go by "society's rules," or stand up for their beliefs. Henry David Thoreau, a famous 19th century writer once demonstrated his transcendentalist beliefs in "civil Disobedience," "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away." No one should restrain from listening to the beat of their own heart, mind, and soul to satisfy the rhythm of society or their peers. Many individuals from the past and present have learned the most important life lesson of ignoring "society's rules" and listening to the beliefs of transcendentalism.
Some people learn this lesson the hard way. Being lucky, I got to learn this lesson by looking through my brother's eyes. A couple years ago, I watched my brother begin to slack off in school and stay out every weekend. I watched my brother do exactly what he thought everyone was doing, and what he believed he should be doing. His life revolved around parties, girls, drinking. Now I look up to my role model with envy. While all of his friends and everyday peers live for college parties and girls, he has made Dean's list, plays for the best college rugby team in the country, and volunteers with autistic kids every week. It is agitating for my brother to listen to his friends mock him for not mimicking everyone else's actions, but his voice, eyes, and words speak for themselves; they show how much happier he is listening to his own voice and not anyone else's. By adhering to non-conformity, my brother has made the best life suitable for him.
My brother is not the only person who went against "society's rules," and made a change for the better. Looking back in history at the 1700s, Hamilton and Jefferson demonstrate the consequences of conformity and non-conformity perfectly. Growing up, Hamilton had no family and was very poor: society only "accepted" the wealthy. Jefferson, on the other hand, was born wealthy and had everything anyone could have dreamed about during that time period. Hamilton and Jefferson were the leaders of contrasting political parties: Jefferson supported the minority, the poor, and surprisingly, Hamilton supported the wealthy. Hamilton's life was based off of conforming with society and being part of the "crowd," whereas Jefferson went against the beliefs of that time period. Jefferson took his observations and life experiences and learned to do the opposite of England's government, since America had problems with it. Thomas Jefferson also once stated, "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity." (Thomas Jefferson, 1) Jefferson was against conforming with religion, too. As he explained, many people risked their lives and even died from trying to conform with Christianity and at no price: conflicts about diversity in religion and government did not come to a solution, people could not become one. At first, society agreed with Hamilton, but after many years, Hamilton's political party backfired and died; everyone decided to support Jefferson, the non-conformist. This had a drastic change on American history for many, many years afterwards.
Lastly, celebrities everyday are demonstrating the consequences of thinking for themselves, or following the crowd. Majority of the people on the news and internet get recognition for doing something no one else in society would do: going against the rest of society's ways. Tyra Banks once affirmed, "I haven't seen the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre. I haven't seen anything. I don't really care." (Tyra Banks, 1) It does not matter whether or not Tyra Banks has seen anything or not; she has the privilege of knowing that she has given many a chance to do what they want. Growing up Tyra struggled with wanting to become a black model. Society made this a very difficult challenge for young Tyra. Society judged Tyra by her skin, not her talent, but she never gave up. Being the strong, confident women Tyra is, she fought for her rights and is now one of the most famous models in the world giving young models the chance at a career. Now look closer at all of the famous celebrities who wanted to conform to the ways of their peers. Just about all of them have struggled with eating disorders, drug addictions, and nasty rumors. All of the celebrities who wanted to match the "best body" in society's eyes and imitate their peers and live the same "fun" life, all regret their decisions when they get older. Only a few examples of these stars include, Ashlee Simpson, Elton John, Mary-Kate Olsen, Paula Abdul, Princess Diana, and much, much more. Ashlee Simpson even admitted to getting an eating disorder by being "...around a lot of girls with eating disorders." A last example of pop culture that turned deadly was conforming to the "People's Temple" cult. 913 people did everything Jim Jones, the leader, told them to do; 913 people committed a mass suicide. Jim Jones told a couple people a day to line up and drink grape-flavored Kool-Aid that was laced with potassium cyanide: every single person listened. Finally, Even characters in books have to make a decision on whether or not to obey by "society's rules." One brave character, Anna, made the difficult choice to go against society and her family: she sued her parents and attained medical emancipation. As Anna says in the novel My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, "I learned two things that year: that neither Santa, nor my parents, were what I wanted them to be." (330, My Sister's Keeper) Instead of agreeing to everything her parents said, Anna decided to listen to her heart and speak a loud when she disagreed. She disagreed with giving a kidney to her sister and spoke her mind, but when she was not heard, she decided to sue her a parents: an act that most people would disagree with. In the end, Anna got what she wanted, medical emancipation, her voice heard, and the love of her parents. Going against her family's views, Anna was able to achieve everything she used to dream about. Those whom adhere to non-conformity are the ones who reach their goals and achieve the best life in the end.
Everyday people have to make the decision whether or not to follow the rules at school, at home, or even the unwritten rules within their peers and society. Breaking these unwritten rules and following one's heart, mind, and soul can lead to great advances towards society and one's goals. Those who stand out in a crowd by doing something "different" are the people who live their lives happiest and achieve the most. Thomas Jefferson from the 18th century, Tyra Banks from the 20/21st century, and Anna from the novel My Sister's Keeper all have illustrated the greatness that can come from breaking "society's rules." These are only three of an infinite amount of historians, celebrities, and fictional characters from books and movies that have listened to the beliefs of Transcendentalism to make a great change. Henry David Thoreau, a famous 19th century writer once demonstrated his transcendentalist beliefs in "civil Disobedience," "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away."