Let me introduce myself.

I am a college student.

I am a daughter. A sister. A friend.

I am a hard worker, someone unafraid to put their whole heart into the task ahead.

I am a writer, a creator, a designer.

I am a free child of the one true God.

I am someone who loves to love.

I am who I say I am.

Sometimes, when the world drags us down and tries to control who we are, we have to get back up and say, “No. This is who I am.” Recently, I was faced with the question “Who am I?” following the end of a long and serious relationship. The question hung in my mind for a couple of days before I realized that I found my identity in all the wrong things.

It’s only natural for millennials to try and find who they are so the question of who we are comes up REGULARLY. I know I ask myself this question all of the time! The truth isn’t found in the places most of us start looking, though. The truth can only come from each of us making a firm choice.

We decide who we are.

Finding yourself is NOT about going away to school or starting a career, it’s about choosing to be the best version of yourself in the place you’re already at. The things from your past don’t define you, they have only shaped you to the person you are now. Your relationships can’t identify you, those too are a part of your choice. School and jobs only let you showcase who you are, they don’t define you.

You decide who you are.

I can’t define you. Your family can’t define you. Your friends can’t define you. You have to. Making the choice to be who you want to be is all you and no one else’s job.

Choose to be happy. Choose to be the best you can be. Choose to be YOU.

So, go ahead. Make your list. Choose who you are.