Discovering Yourself in College [As Seen On: WeAreIU]
For me, college was a time for trying new things. I branched out, took risks, and did things that I would have never done before. I was ready to redefine myself and become a better me. I changed a lot when I got to college, and I think there is nothing better than taking the time to do this for yourself. I still have a year here at the beautiful Indiana University, and I know I'm going to learn so much more, change so much more, and become the adult the I need to be.
College is the perfect time to discover who you are. I grew up in a very small town--one of those towns where literally everyone knows everyone. All of the adults knew who all of the students were and everyone knew everyone else's families and personalities. I loved where I grew up, but you can see how discovering and changing who I was became a hard task. By moving to Bloomington and taking a huge step at IU I was able to take the time for me that I really needed. I made some crazy changes, I dialed it back a bit, and then I found who I truly was. And this was all because I went to college at Indiana University, a place where everyone can be accepted no matter what.
You can discover yourself too. You can be who ever you want, live the life you've always dreamed of, and take every step you need to get where you want to be. If you have a clear sense of who you are you're going to be happier in life, be able to make others happy, and do great things that can make everyone happy.
Understanding yourself is known in the cooperate world as understanding your personal brand. And defining your personal brand will make you more appealing to employers.You'll also appear more put together, confident, and ready to tackle the world. If you want to really define yourself (or even redefine yourself like I did) then there are some great questions to answer and keep in mind. I'm going to list some of my favorite defining questions here, but you can find more here.
Who do you admire?
Even though you want to make sure to be true to yourself 100%, you can still look at others for inspiration. Who motivates you? Who's qualities do you wish you had for yourself? Take note of this person's characteristics and mimic them in your own way. I know I will always have a girl crush on Ariana Grande-- I love her personality and spunk and what she stand for.What are your goals?
This is one of my favorite defining questions. Taking the time to write out my goals allows me to visually see what I think is important to me. For example, if you write a goal that says "spend more time with family," then this goes to show just how important you think family should be to you. One of my goals almost every year is to run more. I know that my health is an important and defining factor of who I am.What adjectives do you use to define yourself?
The way that I wanted to define who I was was differed from the way others used to define me. By changing and growing in college, I learned who I was and what I wanted others to think of me. I figured out how I wanted others to describe me and the adjectives that best defined who I was. Figure out what those adjectives are for you and make sure everyone sees you in that light.This blog post was written by Danyell on WeAreIU, a blog written by Indiana University students in order to inform prospective and current students of tips, tricks, and everything to know about IU campus and more. Check out WeAreIU for a daily dose of knowledge that's quick and on the go.
