By Sherylynn Niezen – Email
Lately I have been thinking about the question in a Zoolander type fashion, “Who Am I?”
I don’t particularly think about this question as it applies to me currently, but reflecting back on who I was in the days when I was just beginning my university adventure. I was a very different person then, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean that life has changed who I am in a bad way but in actuality maturity, education and life lessons have all helped sculpt who I am today.
I truly believe that university has the ability to make a student lose themselves and find themselves, and will hopefully do a bit of both.
The experience and life lessons gathered in a university setting really push a person to find out things about themself they may not have figured out otherwise. How self-motivated are you? How are you with time management? How long can you sit and focus on homework before you check Facebook? How willing are you to lose friends over your dedication to your studies?
These are all questions you come across in university. I think that if you stay in the same place that you were when you began your adventure at university then you haven’t gained anything. If you aren’t able to step back for a moment and lose yourself, let yourself discover new things, then there is no way that you can take two steps forward towards finding yourself. An example from my life, if you go into university expecting to be a Science/Math major and then realize you hate it, you have to be willing to let some mental walls break down so you can figure out a new plan and find yourself in what you do want to study. I ended up with a History major, I would have never discovered this interest if I hadn’t allowed myself to be a bit lost for at time.
At the same time, perhaps you can go into university knowing exactly what your plans are and who you are, only to discover further and confirm that yes, the plan and studies you have chosen are right up your alley. And you are good at what you want to do. That’s awesome! Gain momentum and don’t stop.
Not too much else to say on this topic. I mainly just want to encourage any students out there that are worried about who they are and what they are to do in life. That’s not a bad place to be in, that’s a great place! Try out as many different topics and areas of interest as you can.
Don’t be afraid to lose who you think you are or where you are going because eventually you find that you were on the right path the whole time, you just may have took an awesome side trail to get there that others never saw.
