Currently, I am studying Integrated Strategic Communications and have interests that range from Kentucky sports, the music industry, current events, and political commentary. I was exposed to this community of writers through a current creator and saw it as an opportunity to make content that reflects my interests. This is of the utmost importance to me because we live in a world that is increasingly influenced by people who have the freedom to express their opinions online.
Literature is all about communicating ideas and how the world shares adverse opinions. These ideas that we have can spark activism and ignite creativity. These are some of the reasons that I have taken on the project of becoming a new creator for Odyssey. Most of the news that millennials consume isn't through the nightly news on television, but rather through analyzing various reactions on the internet. People take what they read on the internet and then form opinions. My hope is to be an informant on events that affect the University of Kentucky to start meaningful conversations with my introspection.
People in this day and age are quick to form opinions. Millennials make decisions about menial topics in their lives that greatly influence their overarching view of the world. Simply put, every day you make thousands of decisions that form opinions. It's not like there was one huge decision that leads up to someone backing a certain stance. Let me put this into perspective. Think of these everyday decisions like bricks to a house. Each small decision you make adds a brick to the house. Every brick cemented builds a house which resembles your opinion. You can't just immediately lay the bricks all at once; there is a process in which the house is built.
Your opinions are also formed by friends, family, mentors, and really anyone that you associate with on a daily basis.
Think of how many conversations of substance that you will have on an average day and all the different people that you are likely to talk to. Those that you are with the most may have some opinions or beliefs that are similar to yours. Now I'm not going to sit here and lecture you about picking the best influences because we are talking about opinions, not all of the bad decisions that you've made on the weekends.
When moving through the stages of life you can probably see how your opinions have formed. It all began with your parents always telling you to not talk to strangers and then into your older teen years after developing a social circle you began to be rebellious. As the people, you identify and relate with the most changes the more that your opinions can change.
Public opinion and the general public also plays a role in the opinionated mind. The world as we know it is very black and white when it comes to the consensus of the public. In every opinion or belief, there will always be a majority and a minority that can showcase this polarized reality. When forming your opinions you can be easily be swayed to believe certain things just because the majority of people agree to something.
Sometimes in a big room when a professor asks a question to a lecture hall a person will just throw up their hand just because it is easier to conform than to make a decision. Going against the majority of public opinion can seem strange but that's what opinions are all about. FInding the reasons that you believe in something and sticking with it.
When you go throughout your day I challenge you to make every small decision intentional. Look at the people around you and see how you are influenced, for better or for worse. Opinions can be something that people tend to get stuck on and they can sometimes be unwilling to change. It is just fine to look at all the facts and I would encourage you to challenge yourself to make informed opinions. As you go day by day be mindful of your different opinions and how they are ever evolving.
