Sappy. Sensitive. Crybaby. Emotional wreck. Sentimental. Cheesy. Passionate. Emotional.

I have been called all of these things at some point or other in my life.

Those of you who know probably think I seem calm on the outside and my (fairly) monotonous voice complements this laid-back exterior. I might also seem quiet.

Those of you who really know me know that I am a combination of sass, sarcasm, and love. I can be extremely feisty and relentlessly sarcastic, but I am just as much supportive and a sweetheart. Pretty much a 50/50 “jerk”—teddy bear deal.

I consider myself to be a very emotional person. Is this a bad thing?

I don’t think so. It also depends on the situation. Every personality trait has its positive aspects and its downsides.

I was struggling to write this article because of writer’s block but the evening before writing this, I attended a club meeting called I Am That Girl (IATG). IATG is a female empowerment group that is open to all, regardless of gender, to come and be supported by fellow club members.

While I cannot say exactly what people talked about (as the club is regarded a safe space where everything stays there), most of the women opened up and shared how they were dealing with the new semester and any difficulties and victories. There was definitely emotion flowing freely throughout the room and, not going to lie, I almost teared up a couple of times.

After leaving IATG, I realized more or less what I was going to say in this article and that being emotional is definitely okay.

As a human being, you are allowed to express yourself and connect with your feelings and tell other people how you feel. Our emotions are a huge part of our humanity. Some people, like me, are more emotional than others and this is okay, too.

Being especially prone to experiencing (and expressing) emotions in a full blown manner can be painful but when you’re an emotional being, you are exactly that: emotional. When you feel, you FEEL.

Feeling emotions deeply and powerfully makes sentimental people very strong individuals because they are able to resonate with other people and sympathize, providing emotional support (and sometimes logical advice). We also care about our friends, family, and even strangers to a great extent. We believe everybody deserves to be happy and to know that they are not alone.

Unfortunately, because sensitive people can experience a wide range of emotions very heavily, we have a great potential to get hurt easily. Sometimes people become overwhelmed by sentimental people’s display of emotions and may back off or not know how to talk to those people.

I don’t feel defeated by either "downside", though, because I know that me being an emotional person helps define me and helps me cope with everyday situations in that I am able to view things from multiple perspectives. I can see life in even more shades in-between black and white, and I am grateful to my emotions for providing a lot more color in my life.