Keys to Discovering Yourself by Carissa

Keys to Discovering Yourself by Carissa - March 2017 Scholarship Essay

If I were to address a school-wide audience of students my age, I would like to speak on the importance of finding yourself (or attempting to) in your late teenage years.
Going to college especially brought with it a wakeup call of being far more independent and responsible for each and every choice I made. I witnessed myself, as well as others, make some questionable choices that led me to the realization that college will not last forever, and at some point I am going to have to be completely self-sufficient and independent. Thinking in this way made me really think about what is important to me; passing my classes, graduating college, and having a secure future with a career that I love, just to name a few. I advise every student my age to sit down and really think about these as well, because it brings to your attention what you will have to do to make those important goals happen.
The hardest part of finding yourself in today’s world is that social media makes it easier than ever to get caught up in what everyone else is doing rather than focusing on your own goals. In some people this brings up the issue of constantly comparing themselves to others which only hinders their own mental growth and in some cases, results in “social media depression”. The problem with this is when you are feeling down in the dumps and see someone’s happy post on Instagram, you do not realize that they feel the same way as you when they are on the other side of the screen. Social media results in a glamorized version of everyone’s lives and blurs the lines between what is fake and reality. Focus on your own accomplishments and you will see how the tiniest steps can get you closer and closer to your main goal. Let’s say you are trying to get back into running. You run a mile on your first day; good! Then you see Jessica ran three miles today and you feel that your mile does not matter. What you do not know is that Jessica usually runs four miles so today was a bad day for her. You made progress but chose not to acknowledge it because you compared yourself to someone else, and that is the problem. If students today could stop comparing themselves to the accomplishments of others and the false identities presented on social media, I am sure everyone would be a little more focused on themselves rather than the guy or girl down the street.
Thinking about your long-term goals should bring with it short-term goals to make them more attainable. One of the most important short-term goals should be to analyze who surround yourself with. When you hear the saying “you are who you hang out with” do not think you are an exception. If you know you want to be positive and dedicated to your passions, you must surround yourself with likeminded individuals that put out the same energy that you do. You will not be a positive person if you surround yourself with Negative Nancie’s day in and day out. Growing up inevitably involves growing out of old habits and even friends, and that does not have to be negative. Just because you are not as close with someone as you previously were does not mean you must end on bad terms. Friends grow apart as they find themselves and chase their dreams, but that does not mean you still cannot cheer each other on when you see what you both are accomplishing.
Rather than comparing yourself to others, learn to use others as inspiration for what you want to do or even as examples of what you do not want to be! Growing up and finding yourself does not mean you have to get a life-long career and start having kids right away and that you cannot have any fun, but it does require sitting down occasionally and thinking about what you truly want in life and what you have to do to make that happen. Start doing that and stop comparing yourself to others and you are well on your way to achieving your goals.