Anybody who has a cellphone has heard of the term “ghosting.” Dictionary.com defines it as “the practice of suddenly ending all contact with a person without explanation.”

Many of you reading this have been ghosted. In fact many of you reading this have also been the ghoster. I would have to admit that I am in fact, a serial ghoster.

Now many of you may ask why any decent human being would ghost another person. Why would I consistently cut off contact with people without explanation? And I would answer with one simple phrase: “inner peace.”

At the young age of 22, I am still finding out who I am, what makes me happy, what I love and what I want to be associated with.

With that being said, meeting any person who compromises any of those characteristics listed compromises my peace and thus should not be apart of my life. It sounds cold. It sounds brutal.

Yet, what most people don’t realize is that you don’t owe anyone an explanation.

Our college years are the years of taking risks, pushing forward and securing our future, not everyone has a role in being apart of our respective journeys.

I am here to tell you that ghosting someone is not something that should be stigmatized. It should be celebrated.

If shorty keeps hitting you with the “wow that’s crazy” text, ghost her. If your boo hits your line with some beliefs that totally compromise your own, ghost them.

If I slide in her DM’s and find out she’s still an R.Kelly fan in 2019, she’s ghosted (and blocked). Shoot, if your mom hits you with the “unload the dishwasher,” ghost her too! (I am only kidding, sorry mom).

I am here to take a stand. We as scholars, forward thinkers and innovators must stop stigmatizing the art of ghosting. Face it, some people are dry. There are an abundance of things I would rather do besides reply to another “damn that’s crazy.”

I am a college student and I don’t have time for buffoonery. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been ghosted dozens of times. I’ve realized that it’s not personal. It’s a two-way street. We all live in our separate worlds, with separate ambitions.

UTSA is a massive campus, with so many diverse, beautiful individuals. Why would I settle for someone who isn’t on the same page I am, when I could walk into the JPL or MH and find a dozen other people who are more interested in the things I am.

So if I ghosted you and you’re reading this: You were either boring, not ambitious, a little racist or simply on a different path than I was. It’s nothing personal but I gotta go secure a bag at some point, and you were standing in my way.

So with that being said, protect your energy. Learn to love hanging out with yourself. Take some time to truly find out what brings you happiness.

Temporarily cutting yourself off from the rest of the world can be one of the most liberating aspects of your life. Be kind to yourself.