I think this topic deserves an opening anecdote, so here's a small snapshot into my life that seems hilarious to me in hindsight. I never actually watched YouTube videos until I got to college, but this year I became fixated on a beautiful and adorable couple that made joint videos online, Shannon and Cammie.

Shannon's channel, Nowthisisliving, immediately caught my attention and I waited impatiently for new videos to come out every Friday. After many months of becoming personally invested in the relationship of a couple I had never met, I read a deafening and earth-shattering tweet by Shannon that explained how they had broken up. It was like my own heart was torn out of my chest.

The two went their separate ways and have actually hung out together a few times. I hope and pray that one day they will get back together because I think they're the most beautiful couple I've ever seen. The whole entire point of this story, however, is the reason they broke up. They broke up, as they explained in their "Break Up" video, because they were not personally happy and did not feel like they were experiencing their own personal growth as a joint couple. I thought that was crazy. After a few days, I realized they were right and so very mature to realize that their own personal growth and happiness was more important than trying to find happiness and growth for themselves in each other.

This isn't my story, but I think the message is both an important and universal one. I can't even fathom how many times I have stifled or suppressed my own personal growth at the expense of pleasing others or ensuring good opinions about me from those around me. How often do we have that middle school mentality that we need to fit a certain mold or act in a certain way to be considered "cool" or accepted by a majority? Personally, this seemed to be often. Even in college, I went through the motions and didn't express myself and my true interests for a decent portion of my freshman year.

What I've come to realize as I enter my junior year is that personal growth is the answer. Personal growth is multi-faceted and doesn't happen overnight. What it involves, however, is the realization that life is scary and unpredictable, yet navigable and constantly teaching us to be better and learn from our mistakes.

I think one of the main pillars of personal growth is the realization that loving yourself first and putting yourself first - at times - leads to a happier and healthier person. More often than not, many of us go out of the way for others while spending barely any time on ourselves. Sometimes it is vital to step back and take the time to make yourself feel comfortable and needed. Even writing that sounds a little crazy, but what I mean is to give yourself some of the basics that we deprive ourselves of on a daily basis. Some of these things include sleeping enough, eating enough and eating healthily and setting aside time to relax.

However, more important than this, is realizing that you are complete and adequate. In fact you are more than adequate on your own. Whether you are in a relationship or as single as a Pringle, you as an individual are an amazing person that is still on a journey to find who you are and what you want as you grow. The college age is the biggest period of growth of learning in our lives. I think the best way to make use of it is to spend a decent amount of time thinking about some basic questions.

What do I want? Who do I want to be? What makes me happy? Why does it make me happy? What would my 10-year-old self think of me now? Where is my destination and how do I want to get there?

These are all questions that will not have a single answer and will not be apparent upon the first try or maybe even the thousandth try. The answers to these questions may need to be explored for a whole lifetime, but that is the point. Our whole lives are an experience with personal growth. We never stop growing and we never stop making mistakes, so there is great merit to starting that path now. Don't be afraid to do what you think is best for yourself and don't hesitate to make decisions about who you want around you and what kind of atmosphere you promote. Good luck!