Never Meet Your Heroes; Meet People Instead

We’ve all heard it: never meet your heroes. But here’s the thing, most of our heroes aren’t celebrities that are out of reach. They’re right here walking by us on the way to class, hiding in plain sight in the background of our lives.

We make heroes out of people all the time. The crush you’ve said three words to but have written an entire novel about in your Notes app. The professor who makes you believe every word he is saying until the projector freezes and they spend ten minutes muttering “why won’t this thing work.” The cool friend of a friend who seems to have everything together until you realize their “morning run” is just a walk to a cafe to seem busy.

We love pedestals. We sand off the edges, romanticize the silences, fill in the blanks with fantasies. And then reality kicks in. The “hero” you thought would deliver life advice at any hour sends back a one-word “okay one sec” when you pour your heart out. Heroes don’t sweat through their shirts walking across campus. People do.

And it stings, right? Watching the pedestal collapse. But here’s the twist: the fall is where it gets interesting. Heroes are boring. People are messy. People get Chipotle stains on their sleeves, cry in dorm bathrooms, ghost by accident, and admit they’re scared. People aren’t consistent, and thank god for that, because perfection is unbearable to sit next to at dinner.

The best stories are in the cracks. The professor who admits they failed and got fired from their first internship. The friend who confesses they feel like an imposter too. The crush who’s awkward in all the same ways you are. That’s where the real connection lives, not in some marble statue version of them, but in the moment the statue topples.

So no, never meet your heroes. Meet people instead. Flawed, chaotic, hilarious, painfully human people. The ones who break their own myths every time they spill coffee on themselves or send the wrong emoji. 

Because at The Edge, we’re not in the business of polishing pedestals. We’re here for the cracks, the mess, the honesty, the moments that make us laugh in public when we probably shouldn’t. That’s the story. That’s always the story.