“Sometimes you lose yourself when growing up.” There are going to be times in your life where you lose a sense of who you are. Between family, friends, stress in school, etc., you sometimes lose your thoughts and can’t find yourself. It’s not that you’re depressed or hopeless, you just don’t know who you are yet and that’s perfectly okay. When I was applying to colleges, they asked me to write an essay about “Who I am.” I was only 17 at that time, and couldn’t even think of things that make me, me. That is why this is an invalid question because you are still growing up, and maybe even to this day, you are still trying to figure out who you are.

Throughout growing up, you’re going to wake up on some days and say to yourself “I know who I am and what I want to do with my life.” On the other hand, there are going to be those days where you lost the perception of yourself. Don’t be alarmed. That is normal and helps you to figure out the qualities that make you unique.

You change, yet people on the outside pick up on that change faster than you can feel yourself slipping away. Sometimes change is good, and sometimes it will be the opposite. However, I believe each person has a set of core qualities that are fixed. Along the path of life, you may gain and lose bad and good qualities, but you will always have those main characteristics that make you, you. If it’s not a good kind of change, and you have to find your way back to the heart of you are, the people you lose along the way of that transition were never really there for you in the first place. After you get back to who you are, the ones who noticed you changed, yet stayed with you throughout, are the ones you should cherish and be there for them too if they ever get lost.

Sometimes you will feel out of place, but when you don’t feel that anymore, that’s when you know you are one with yourself “...and grow with it, and you can't hold on. To the old you, or the old this or the old that. Because, you know, you change. And it's not changing in a bad way. It's just changing because that's what happens in life. You grow up, everyone moves on. You're just learning.You stay true to yourself. Changing isn't a bad thing and it never was. But at the end of the day you know, you're the same person. And, and where your heart is, that doesn't change” (Shawn Mendes). These are lyrics from the song, Understand. Senior year not only did I gain a great support network, but also this song resonated with me and made me realize I have lost myself and became someone I am not. My heart didn’t change, but my actions did and I became aware I didn’t have a tight grasp on “Who I am.”

A couple of months ago, I lost myself once again. I shut many people out when all they wanted to do was help, but my family and friends who knew what I was going through told me “...you will never lose who you really are. You have been and will always be the same person in my eyes.”

Find yourself by taking time off from things that cause you stress. Concentrate on yourself and the people who mean the most to you in your life. It doesn’t matter how many times you forget who you are. All that matters is if you can get back to who you really are because if you are the person you are meant to be, you will always be happy.