The Importance of Self-Awareness by Elizabeth

The Importance of Self-Awareness by Elizabeth - September 2014 Scholarship Essay

She takes her first step on campus. Her mom is heard sputtering tears at her side, her dad's caring hand is felt encouragingly on her shoulder, and a large butterfly aggressively flutters in her stomach, trying to break free from her stomach. Classes, jobs, friends, tests, college fees, books, family, exercise: all her duties filled her mind. How could she expect herself to balance everything and still manage to get enough sleep? It's difficult to find a way to manage it all, but one skill can help: a well-developed sense of self-awareness.

Self-awareness means a knowledge of one's feelings, motives, and desires. Such a knowledge is useful in college life primarily for scheduling purposes. For example, someone that knows where they want to go in life can pick classes to propel them to their goal. That person would also know what subjects they were best in, what subjects were more challenging, and what they could mentally handle at one time; meaning, that person would be able to challenge their mind without overworking their brain and body.

Stress can interfere with everyday life, and unfortunately, many people do not know how to deal with stress, and initially, may not even realize that they are stressed or the level of their stress. However, self-awareness can help. A person that is more in touch with their feelings will be able to immediately detect when they are stressed. A person that does not have a developed sense of self-awareness probably would not know how to manage their stress because they may not pay attention to how their mind and body feels while doing certain activities. A person that is more in touch can not only detect their own stress, but learn ways to manage it much better by paying attention to how they feel while doing things such as running or painting.

The pressures of grade point averages and class rank is a stress that can eat away at people. Some people are inclined to push themselves and set standards for themselves that may be unattainable, while some others may be more inclined to accept the grades that they've always received and not push themselves to do better. Perhaps a self-aware person would be more inclined to set realistic standards for themselves in a competitive school setting.

A skill such as this may not be as blatantly essential as study skills, critical reading skills, or time management skills, but it is crucially important in maintaining mental and physical health for college students, and can help people make decisions about their future.