I’m a firm believer that contradicting your own words and opinions is a beautiful expression of self discovery and growth. Whether that be as small as deciding that you no longer like the color pink to as grand as deciding that you are no longer pleased with the way you are living and want to “remodel” your life, I’ll be your biggest supporter. Unfortunately, not everyone believes this idea; I guess when you hear the word “change” we are unconsciously trained to associate it with something negative. I’d like to share with you guys an important lesson that I learned my first semester of college.

You should allow yourself to change; embrace it and if someone doesn’t like it, that doesn’t matter!

Sounds cheesy, but in August 2016 I was a different person; standing in front of a mirror I barely recognize myself. Before you jump to conclusions, this isn’t a story of self hatred and the somewhat typical “I don’t know myself anymore.” It’s my own journey of flourishing in a new environment. I always thought that opinions of others defined who I was; if I didn’t justify my actions I was doing something horribly wrong. Maybe this was due to the fact that I was surrounded by people who questioned my every move? Who knows. Anyway, let’s move on with the story.

I’m not exposing anything new when I say that the college scene is focused on partying, hookups, and the occasional “I can’t believe I did that!” I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with that as long as you don’t judge people for having different outlooks on these situations, which is where the problem begins. Judgement. The forming of an opinion, estimate, notion, or conclusion, as from circumstances presented to the mind. I love opening up to people. My soul has a passion for sharing my experiences and thoughts; a downside being that sometimes you can open up to the wrong person. They’ll use your words against you manipulate you into thinking less of yourself. This statement stems from the fact that I changed. I was a timid girl who enjoyed staying in a Friday night while watching a movie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to relax, but I slowly realized that it just wasn’t me. I love meeting new people, doing my hair and makeup with friends and going out to have a fun night. If you were to ask a few people that I used to be close with post self realization they might say that I’ve changed too much. Hey, I guess they are welcome to formulate their own opinion of me, but thankfully I don’t think too much of it. Life has so much to offer. There’s people to meet, stories to tell, memories to create, and places to explore. Why isolate yourself from it?

Fate claims you’ll always turn into a person you never thought you’d be and for my circumstances this fortune holds true. The new version of me is an extrovert who embraces change, welcomes opinions and people with open arms and is always down for some adventure. It’s the little things that excite me about life. I’m still the same person who has a caring heart that’s determined to succeed. All I’ve done is discover myself a bit more and I’d encourage you to do the same. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and try something new, you may find something great!