Being a college student has its ups and downs as it is. It’s such an awkward phase in life because you’re still unsure about what you want and how you get there and there’s so much pressure to ‘have it all figured out’.

I think that feeling of needing to have it all figured out causes the most pressure and stress among students. There’s this idea of having to find yourself that is continuously shoved down your throat and most people don’t even know where to start with that.

I don’t necessarily agree that college is the time to ‘find yourself’ but I think it’s the time to CREATE yourself. You have so many opportunities to figure out what you like and don’t like, you have so many people around you to guide you and examples of what you could possibly be like one day.

This concept of ‘finding yourself’ is too abstract because it doesn't have any direction. So many people get so lost in this idea and they lose sight of what they could be building with all the resources around them.

This is why I like the thought of creating yourself instead-- there’s no fantasy to get lost in. It’s about building yourself from the ground up.

Creating yourself means that there’s no pressure to have it all figured out, but rather taking bits and pieces of what you like, what you aspire to be and finding the balance of that.

There are advisors, so many clubs, and different ways to get involved on campus that many people don’t take advantage of. By going to different events and experiencing opportunities, you’ll be able to find what makes you happy or even what you’re good at. College is about expanding your skill set and gaining new perspective!

With this said, not every experience will be pleasant, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less important. Creating yourself means going through those hard times and persevering. It's about finding what you do and DON’T like and going out of your comfort zone to learn more about yourself.

There’s no pressure of finding yourself and there’s a more concrete feeling of “I'm in control of creating myself” instead of waiting for this moment where you just know who you are. This mindset gives you a chance to build yourself the way you see yourself.

It allows you to seize your opportunities and gives you direction.

Even though college is a time of great distress and change, a simple way to take off the pressure is to just change your way of thinking into a form of doing something. Instead of finding yourself, start creating yourself.