There is nearly always that moment of “magic” that accompanies high school graduation and escorts you off to college. That feeling of beginning adulthood, going off on your own and beginning the rest of your life. It’s both exciting and terrifying, as you leave behind the comfort of your house, hometown and all that you know to venture off into the unknown. You begin to plan your future, visualize yourself in your career and imagine who you will be as a person.
Then you are posed with the question: “Who am I?”
Sure, by the time you begin college, you are around the age of 18, and you might have some concept of you are. However, if there has been anything that I have learned from my first two years of college, it is that I truly do not know who I am yet. This can be a frightening notion, especially since the whole purpose of getting a college degree is to acquire a job you can make a livelihood out of. If you do not even know who you are yet, how can you be confident about the choices you are making in terms of education and all other life decisions? All of this can be cause for stress and panic, especially for the college student who feels like they need to have it all together and likes to have a game plan.
As time goes on during your college experience, you will finally realize that it is normal to not know exactly who you are just yet. One of the best parts of being young and in college is to use this time to discover yourself. You are meeting new people every day, and you have the opportunity to reinvent yourself as you please. There is no prerequisite demanding you stay who you have been nor is there anyone telling you that you have to change into something new entirely. Perhaps, you will feel at home in the major you have selected from the start, or maybe you will try out several different paths before finding your niche. You will have the opportunity to make new friends, some will last and some will just be passersby in your life. You also begin to realize who your true friends are and who truly matters to you. Sometimes, it is who you're expected it to be, other times it is not. This is all part of the journey of answering the question of “Who am I?” It is the time to try new things, pioneer different experiences and embrace a sense of early adulthood adventure.
So even all the days where you may feel like everyone is so grown up and has a detailed plan of the future while you are sitting there pondering what to eat for breakfast, remember that college is all about the experience and changing your mind. It is time to grow. It is the time to find yourself.
