While on the journey to be myself, I feel as if College has been one of the best places to embark on such a journey of self-discovery and acceptance.

From the beginning of society there have been not only scientists, philosophers, mediums, and many other diverse areas of people who were searching for the truth, so why then do we see that most individuals are running away from it? Truth, I mean. Have we not realized and garnered that it is greater than any of us will ever be, why do so many turn away from accepting this, in their minds, bodies and souls, or at least acknowledge and accept a small part of it and live freely knowing who we are?

Today’s society reflects how the majority of us are used to putting on a false disguise in today's world, and I am not sure if it is merely out of fear of rejection by others or for the fear of disappointing ourselves. I feel that many of us tend to be simply afraid to find out who we really are and in doing so we are not always willing to do so without disguise or being afraid. Sadly, I feel that many of us sometimes simply go through our lives thinking we are something that we are not. We often confuse the identities that we have created for ourselves for our real souls. This is the biggest challenge on the journey of becoming ourselves and enabling us not to be deceived by what seems to be our personality on the surface, but to dig deeper and find out who we really are from the inside out.

I was brought up with the idea that nothing trumps honesty. Through honesty we gain the ability of being fair and honest, which is placed highly on my beliefs, along with the ability to be kind and compassionate.While faced with many trials and tribulations, I have tried my best to be honest with those around me, but moreover, with myself regardless of how hard it has been. Because of such beliefs instilled within me I think that I have made considerable progress during my freshman year in college while upon my path of understanding myself. College has definitely change how I see my life, and as I go through each semester I eagerly anticipate the many experiences offered through living on campus.

No doubt, despite all the influences, I have promised myself that I will not allow my values to be compromised and aim to stay true to being me. Even recently I was put in a position where it could have been easy to get carried away by the desire to be accepted among classmates, those in my dorm, and even my original roommate at college. I was smart enough to see that I did not have to change ME, but that I needed to change my surroundings; once I moved to another dorm and got another roommate, I was able to breathe again knowing I had not succumbed to accepting anything less than happiness in who I was and how I chose to live.This can be the biggest danger of not finding ourselves and our individuality during these extremely important college years.

As I write this, I wonder intently why this journey we are on has to be so risky. I mean, besides realizing the fact that it’s easy to mistake what’s found on the outside for what’s on the inside, down deep and it is there we find things are more significant, and it appears that we take more risks and chances discovering who we truly are. I believe that one of these risks or chances is due to the fact that others around us don't always accept us for who we are and I can steadfastly say that for me this is a well-known truth, first hand. Yet such a simple fact is that we, ourselves, don't always accept ourselves for who we are. This makes me wonder what lies in the danger of fully accepting not only our strengths but also our weaknesses. I think that most people tend to want to believe that they are perfect.

Ironically, by accepting and acting like ourselves and not pretending to be the superheroes that we all want to be, there arises a high reality of disappointment and confusion. As an example, what if someone thinks they are brave and courageous but when put into a situation where he or she finds out they are really a coward? Could you even to begin to measure the disappointment and devastation that person ended up feeling? I think that it was, perhaps, even harder to go through that than finding out and being able to accept who we are. We must learn that the answer to all of this turmoil lays in being able to learn to accept and love ourselves completely and to embrace our own keys to self-identity.

Without knowing who we are and what we are made of, we will end up lost and alone in this world. Though this may sound almost “cliché”, I am learning an important lesson in that we cannot begin to try to understand the world surrounding us without being able to first understand ourselves at the deepest, most personal levels which are the core of whom we are destined to be. How beautiful it can be to accept and have those around us accept who we are, without fear, limitations, and judgement. This causes me to sometimes wonder why so many people try to deceive themselves and those around them here on campus, at home, work or employment.

Please understand that I do believe that it is important to form good, lasting friendships, but I believe that it is even more important to be able to do this without compromising who one is as an individual. If students were to change their personalities just to get others to be their friends, and in doing so they become someone other than their true selves then they are truly “lost”. We must realize that there will be numerous challenges and temptations that we, as students, will encounter during college years, but it is during this time that we gain the ability to discover ourselves and with that knowledge will come the realization of our real dreams and goals, paving the path for us to walk and begin leading a beautiful life of self-acceptance and wisdom.

With such a beautifully balanced world, the core strengths we gain out of discovering ourselves and where we fit in the world around us are limitless, and I believe that only through really knowing who we are on the inside will result in us being more in tune with the outside world. I am not saying that the journey of becoming and staying yourself, no matter the situation, will be easy, but it will be worthwhile.Yes, we will encounter disappointments and may experience a great deal of heartaches and confusion along the way, but we should believe that we all have the courage and character to endure and continue regardless the bumps we stumble upon as we travel the paths before us.

My desire for you all is that everyone’s personal journey lead us to our own individual happiness, and though the journey may be long, it will also be full of rewards and enlightenment along the way each of you reading this are able to find true happiness and be able to start looking within your own souls for the answers within rather than allowing your minds to negatively persuade you to only work in the “survival of the fittest” mode. If this happens, we all will have succeeded in making our world a better place to live