My professor posed an interesting question to my Literary Theory class on Wednesday, and my classmates' responses really struck me.

She asked, "How many of you would say you are a different person here at Lafayette than you are at home?" I was baffled. I felt entirely confident that this absurd possibility didn't apply to me. I proudly raised my hand in opposition, thinking, I am the same exact person here that I am at home. Why would I feel the need to be any different? How could I even be any different if I tried?

However, the majority of my classmates raised their hands, indicating that yes, they were different people here than they were back home. One girl indicated that it's because she didn't curse at home like she did here, but the rest gave no explicit reasons. I didn't quite understand.

But at the same time, I guess I did, even though it's hard to admit. I like to think that this duality of person seems to absurd to me, because I truly try to be the same person at school that I am at home. I dress the same, I speak the same, I act the same, I treat others the same. My interests and personality certainly don't change, as far as I'm aware. At least, I'm not actively seeking to change them at any level at which I or others should notice.

But I do understand where this question is coming from. In high school, I would experience this on a slightly smaller scale. As in, there were always a few girls who were really nice when you got them alone, but when they were in their groups, they conformed to the attitudes of the mass, making them much less pleasant. It baffles me, but it's true that people act differently around different people, and there is obviously a reasoning behind this that I can't quite grasp.

This brings me to my main concern. If you can be two different people, how can you be one? If someone were to ask you, are you nice? Or, do you talk behind others' backs? Or even, do you say "like" or do you wear shorts so short they barely exist? If someone were to ask you these things, would you reply with "it depends"? Because if you truly are a different person under different circumstances or within different social atmospheres, which is the true you? How can you be a girl who is both nice and mean?

Obviously, I am of the belief that however you are in front of your parents, you should be comfortable being that person in front of your best friends, your professors, even in front of a classmate you may have a crush on. Because when you are changing to please those around you, you're not just fooling everyone else; you're also fooling yourself.

Be comfortable with who you are, in all contexts. And those who accept you for this outward truth, those are the people you should keep in your life. As for the people you feel can't accept you for the way you are behind closed doors, they don't even deserve your alternative personality; they don't deserve your company, at all.

So when my professor posed this question last week, I felt that I had a right to be utterly taken aback. The way I am here at Lafayette is the way I am when talking at the dinner table at home is the way I am when alone in my bedroom is the way I am in the company of new people. If this doesn't apply to you, then I think you have to stop denying the importance of self-truth.