In college it seems that we identify ourselves through our field of study. As if we are what we study and that's all there is to it. As students, we are more than a cohort and more than a program candidate.

So much of our innate concept of identity comes with considering the things that we do. The topic itself is a bit of a grey area. It's a popular yet, unanswerable question of life. In a class I took last semester, and in most classes I take, professors begin the first day by using some type of awkward ice breaker that no one really ever wants to participate in...not even the professor. It's just something we all need to survive through on the first week of classes. Anyways, in this specific class of about 30 students, we had to do short individual presentations. We weren't given any guidelines at all. As per college's unofficial yet pre-set system, we all knew what to say. "Hi, my name is Hadassah, I'm a junior and I have a dual major in communication sciences and disorders and Spanish." I promise that the remaining 29 students took that same statement and switched out my name, year, and programs of study, and inserted their own. That was it. And suddenly, the ice was broken and we moved on.

It seems to be that at the college level, we find our identity in a label or some type of preexisting cohort. My personal sense of identity comes from countless things. The following is not an exhaustive list, but it includes some of the things that I personally consider to be a part of my identity and help in shaping it: family, relationships, friendships, religion, academic work, morals and ethics, characteristics and traits, jobs and hobbies. All of these things, and so many others are large factors in finding the answers to the unending list of questions pertaining to identity.

We must constantly think about all of the unique things that compose us. We're more than physical therapy, art and history majors. We're more than a predetermined list of courses. We bring an innumerable amount of qualities to the table at any given time...we just have to be willing to open up and talk about those incredible qualities.

You're more than your major(s). There are so many beautiful and intricate details within you that compose the real you. Not just the basic and superficial you that you introduce on the first day of classes each semester. Embrace your identity in it's complexity and it's fullness.