It is agreed by majority that college is a place where people find themselves. We’ve all heard that a million times, but what exactly does “finding yourself” mean? Are we really lost? And if so, who is responsible for finding us? I have silently battled these thoughts within my head, and decided on what I believe to be a few answers.

For starters, I do believe that college is a place where people find themselves. Finding yourself means developing your inner essence. It is the shaping of values, morals, characteristics, and behaviors that ultimately creates the person that you are meant to be. So, how do we find ourselves? Simple, we find ourselves through the situations that we go through. With majority of college students in their late teenage years and early twenties, the situations that we are challenged with are really our first “grown up” encounters. The lessons that we take away from each situation are filed away into our personalities, further altering them towards maturity.

This early time in our lives is often seen as a struggle period. Though we are not completely on our own we are all gaining a sense of independence that, at times, requires us to not be as comfortable as we once were in our parent’s home. We are also at more liberty to make our own decisions without the consultation of anyone, which in turn sometimes leads to poor choices being made. However, it is these experiences that ultimately make us ourselves. Without discomfort we will never learn what exactly is comfortable for us, and what we must do to obtain that. Also, without the poor choices we make we would never learn how to overcome them.

The point I am trying to make is that though at times we seem to find ourselves in unwanted circumstances where we feel defeated, we must remember that every obstacle that we encounter is responsible for further defining our character. We must take the bad in order to make ourselves the good that we need. Whether we realize it at not, we are currently lost. We are half empty vessels waiting for the rest of us to be filled through life. In essence, we are responsible for finding ourselves. And, the best way to do that is to not shy away from any, and every experience you can get your hands on, and remembering that what may seem bad in the moment ultimately results in the betterment of you.

Jordyn Jones, Staff Writer