Lo Bosworth - The Hills: My Experience

by Lo Bosworth
It's officially over. A long chapter in my life closed. What did I lose? A little dignity here and there, sure. What 23-year old hasn't slipped up once or twice over the course of their young adulthood? But more importantly, what did I learn and gain?
Before getting into all of that, let's start with a brief history of my time on The Hills. It started way back when (2004 to be precise), as a senior in high school. MTV came knocking on the door at Laguna Beach High School, and I answered it. We truly thought Laguna Beach would live as a one-hour episode of True Life, but we were wrong. The show changed reality TV forever, and my life as I knew it.
Next, I went off to college, UCSB. Transferred to UCLA my junior year. Started seeing Lauren again, as we both were living in LA. The Hills was already up and running, finishing production on its second season. I was around the cameras at times with her (it was a reality show after all), and our executive producer and creator (the same one from Laguna) asked me to re-join the cast.
Truthfully, I was a bit apprehensive. The reality TV thing didn't go over so well during my time in Santa Barbara, and I was wary of being bullied forever. However, a paycheck is a paycheck and since Dad told me I needed to get a job (groan), I figured this was the quickest way for me to pay the bills.
The show got huge during the third and fourth season. I always found myself walking the fine line between sharing my life more openly with the cameras, and completely blocking them out. I'd block them out more often than not, but in the long run I feel that choosing to fly under the radar is the one reason I'm still sane today. I think that now, without worrying what the editing room will do to me, that I can share who I am more comfortably with all of you.
Who am I? I'm a girl trying to figure out how to start a meaningful life. I love my family, my friends and my boyfriend. My favorite color is orange. I like science and historical fiction. I love to write. My blackberry doesn't ever leave my side. My closet is exploding and my room is messy more often than not. My hair doesn't grow-out blonde and I always feel a little bit fat.
I've learned that being normal is a-okay. In fact, that I prefer normalcy to anything else. I started the show with an education in art history, and I'm leaving with an education of The Industry. I now know cool stuff like: how to make a television show, what exactly a talent agent does, and how a huge network like MTV is run. I find it to be particularly enthralling, and it's an education I'll take full advantage of. Finally, I've learned that at the end of the day, while my gig on The Hills was a great job, it was just a job. There are bigger people, places and things out there. Now, I get to discover them.
Thanks for the support and for watching (112 episodes, craaazy). I hope that you'll like the real me once you begin to discover who I am underneath it all.

credit - Lo Bosworth @ The Lo Down
~Kelli at Hills Freak