We've been together for...what? Approximately 9 weeks or so, right? So, I think we have reached that point where we can really start to do some introspective reflection. (I'm being facetious here, intentionally. I really do know all your blogs require introspection, and that you have willingly (I hope) given yourselves over to that.)
So, although I cannot make you do this, I would like you to minimize all distractions while you think about this blog. Exercise your right to have "You" time; put away your phones or tv remotes and for the sake of all that's holy--stop playing Fortnite or whatever time suck application/site you have open. I know those things are necessary to, in some cases, restore sanity, unwind or engage in healthy social discourse--but for now, maximize the "quiet." And really think about this question.
Every day, you wake up, go through your morning rituals, come to school, do your thing(s), go home, go through your evening rituals and then go to bed.
There are obviously some variations to this routine from time to time, and I am not trying to downplay your life in any way by making it sound mundane; that is not the idea here.
What I am saying is, that through all of this, these daily activities, rituals and routines people interact with you.
They talk to you, refer to you, question you, yell at you, soothe you, talk about you, defer to you or, in some cases, though hopefully not many, ignore you completely. The point is, they KNOW who you are, at least enough to do one or more of the previous things.
But, when you stop to think about it, do they really know? And, more importantly, do YOU?
Beyond names, job titles or academic or athletic accomplishments, beyond labels given by yourself or by others, who are you?
Who are you inside?
If you had to write your name, and then your definition, what would it say?
Would it be a collection of traits, hobbies and virtues? Would you be able to strip yourselves cleanly of those three things and still define yourself?
Why or why not?
Ready, set, GO....
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ReplyDeleteThe definition that people might give me will be very different from the definition that I would give myself. My friends see me in a picture that is way different from who I truly am. In Front of people I appear strong, I look like I know what I'm doing, hopeful, nothing can wreck me, and I don’t waste my time worrying about things that will make me feel bad. Not going to lie, some of this is really me but some of it is not but I have to appear like that because sometimes life requires you to be someone who you don’t want to be. The things that are not part of my personality are the things that define me the most. I really know myself, I know myself very well to the point that I know exactly how I'm going to react to every single problem might come my way. I know myself very well, I know what makes me happy and what doesn’t, I know when I’m going to stop searching for who I truly am because no matter how much I think I know myself, I still have a lot to know and learn about myself. I know when I start lying to myself about something even though I know the truth. I know when to stop myself from doing bad, in other words, I know how to control myself. But, I also know that sometimes, myself doesn’t know what to do and that’s when I start wondering and questioning if I really know myself. At times, I don’t know who I am but I think it’s normal and that we all go through this because I’m not the only one that goes through this, some of my friends too which makes me feel like I’m a normal person. At the end, I know the truth about myself which is that I really know who I am which I take as an accomplishment because many people still don’t know who they really are.
ReplyDeletePeople are given different titles and labels all the time. Although, these labels don't truly tell who we are. What really matters is what's on the inside. Personally, I don't know exactly who I am yet, but I'm starting to get an idea. On the inside, I am a kind person that likes to be friends with everyone. I also enjoy playing sports and being outdoors. Furthermore, I like to help others if I'm able to. I do have many negative qualities too. For example, I can be extremely lazy and my common sense is awful. If I had to define myself, I would describe all of my traits and characteristics as well as my actions I take and hobbies. If I had all of these things stripped from me, I would have no idea how to define myself. A person's traits and hobbies make up a big part of who they are as a person, so without them, it's very hard to define someone. It seems kind of weird that I don't know much about myself, but eventually I'll learn. As life goes on, who I am as a person will become much more clear and may even change.
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ReplyDeleteI actually do not know who I am. I thought I did, but that is only who my family wanted me to be, but not who I truly am. I think I am starting to known who I am, but I am still figuring things out. All I have figured out is that I am a hardworker and I give most of the stuff I do all my effort. I am a caring, kind, and trusting person. I have really strong emotions when it comes to people because when I love someone I will stick with them until the end, but when I hate someone I really do hate their guts and hate their face and hate their name. I am also a passionate person, mostly politics and personal beliefs. That's what I think my name would be and this is what I think of myself. Without my traits I don't know if I could describe myself. I will not know how to. My traits describe who I am, and I have always thought how people thought of me described who I am. But now I am coming to the realization that this is not true.
ReplyDeleteI always find this question difficult to answer and when it comes up on “get to know me” papers, I rely on other people to describe me in 3 words or so. I think the words of other people describe what isn’t visible to point out in myself but that’s not really what defines me. In my mind, my thoughts and the way I think those thoughts, the way I speak and how I present myself in certain situations defines me. I do not act the same in every place because of the setting and people. My family would have different descriptions than what my teachers or my friends would say. My family who knows me the best would say how I am witty, smart, independent, and stubborn. My friends would say I am reliable, a good listener, and funny. My teachers or people who don’t know me would say I’m quiet and self-restricted. I would describe myself as all of those but more importantly someone who needs assurance and time to open up. I am someone who tries to stand in everyone’s shoes to understand them better and make better choices. I’m someone who overthinks and worries too much about the future or something I did. I’m someone who uses those assumptions and creates a shell around myself that makes me think no one cares about me or notices how I feel. I go out of my way and do little acts of kindness that may make someone’s day even if I’m struggling inside. I’m someone who tries my best to succeed and get by so I can be proud and worthy of myself. I sometimes feel lost in an emotionless circle of loneliness. Those define how I present myself because being neglected many times before makes me lose self confidence and the ability to openly be outgoing in front of most people.
ReplyDeleteI feel like most people, including myself, don’t truly understand me. When I look at how I interact with people, it seems pretty confusing. Sometimes I’m quiet and shy but others time I’m loud and outgoing. I look at everyday separately and I feel like my personality fluctuates constantly. So I find it hard to completely define myself but if I had to I would say that I’m an all around person, not too timid and not too extroverted. I’m right in the middle, but the catch is that I have like a spectrum that I go back and forth on. This seems like the case for my hobbies too. I hop from hobby-to-hobby like sports, music, video games, spending time with friends, and most importantly managing all those things with time and school work. But because of all this, I do lack time with my family. So if I strip all of these away, it wouldn’t be me because that’s who I am.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to describe myself to an alien who I was without using one worded traits, I would say I am someone who likes to feel a sense of risk and excitement through new adventures or experiences. I will dance like no one else is in the room. But I’m also someone who shys away from big attention. I don't know myself but I feel like we learn more about ourselves everyday. By breakups,being there for a friend, helping a stranger, or failing a class. You learn something about yourself in every event in your life, big or small. So i don't know myself completely but I have aspirations in life for myself that guide me. I asked my good friend to describe me without labels and he said "You are the kind of person that goes through life with an optimistic attitude , even when its hard to be optimistic. You put a smile on other peoples faces just by interacting with them" This means so much to me because all I want is to help and be positive for people when they need it. Labels do not amount to describe a person in any significant way. I say this because if you asked to describe yourself to someone who is blind, you might say athletic, humble, caring, smart. But these four words could lead to a million assumptions. Those labels don't really define who a person really is deep inside. My perception of myself might be very different than another persons but I like to think that I go out of my way for the people I really love. And I love all the people in my life.. I try to put in effort into my relationships and daily activities.
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ReplyDeleteI feel like people have to define themselves for people to understand who they are. You don’t really know me until you’ve been around me. You don’t really know me unless you’ve seen me at my worst times. You don’t know me until I explain why I am the way I am and you actually understand the reason for it. My looks might tell someone something completely different about me than I would tell them myself. I hate to be hurt. Physically, emotionally, I do not like to be in a state of pain. I am hilarious! And I mean that in the most serious way ever. Seriously I am a clown!! I’m super loyal to the people I keep around me. I’ll go so hard for my people if they need me to no matter what. I have a great heart. Even though I’m talking about myself, there’s a possibility that all of that is a lie. (It isn’t by the way.) Which is why I say that you would have to be around me to know me. I’m me, I do me, and I chill. *Kanye Shrug* I can make friends with anyone. I’m the shoulder to lean and cry on. Everything can be taken away from me but I will never let it change who I am and the kind of heart I have. I would be able to take away traits, hobbies, and virtues to define myself because my heart, loyalty, and love would still remain the same. I would just let those things define me to other people.
ReplyDeleteMy friends, family, and boyfriend know me really well. However there is one person in particular who understands me better than anyone else, my brother Steven. I am so lucky to have a brother who is not only my family but also my very best friend. He knows all the goods and the bads about me and honestly I feel that he may even know me better than I know myself. It is hard to define who I am because I am not entirely sure yet. I am still growing and changing as a person every day. The only way I can define myself is by listing trials, hobbies,, and virtues I have. Without listing them I would find it near impossible to say who I am because all those things are what makes me who I am. On the inside, I know that I am a very kind and sensitive person and that sometimes I may be overly caring and let my emotions get the best of me. However, I don’t consider it a weakness to show emotion and, eventhough some people may take advantage of my kind heart, I feel it is better to open my heart, even if I sometimes I get hurt. Another important thing that makes me who I am is my determination, I never give up no matter how many obstacles I face. When I set my mind to something, I will keep at it until I accomplish it. I have a few passions in my life and one of them is reading, the books I read have gotten me through some rough times and made me into who I am today. I also really love animals and as cheesy and weird as this sounds, my dog Gracie is one of my best friends <3. While I have many inner strengths I also have many weaknesses I want to work on. One of them is my stubbornness, while it can sometimes be a strength, it makes it difficult for me to compromise with others and admit to my faults. Another weakness of mine is my social skills, I find it very hard to communicate with people I don’t know really well and I have stuck with my small group of close friends that I have had for years. I am trying to improve on my communication skills and make some new friends this year. Many traits and hobbies make me who I am, but it is also my relationships that have a big impact on who I am becoming. My boyfriend, Vladimir was the first person to show me what it feels like to be in love. He makes me the best version of myself I could possibly be. Before him I used to have so many self doubts, but he has made me feel so special and has taught me to love myself. Without him I would be a much different person then how I am today. My friends and family also encourage me to be the best I can be and I wouldn’t be the same person without them.
ReplyDeleteHi I’m Natalia I’m a 16 year old girl who still doesn’t know who she is and that’s okay. As my life goes on I pick up different things from different people. Whether it’s good or bad. Writing this is a struggle for me because I don’t know exactly who I am because I am only 16 years old. But I can tell you bits and pieces. I pride myself on being an outgoing, funny person who is currently get their hair dyed in this very moment. Hair is something I’m fairly good at although I hate my hair. I often try to make a joke in every situation which sometimes does not work in my favor. My humor is not understood by many but that doesn’t matter to me as long as I think I’m funny. I’m definitely not a serious person, a lot of people know this and even I know this and can’t take myself serious. I’m a pretty patient person, I don’t like to rush life because I already thinks it’s so short. I’m also a very difficult person to understand or come across, I’ve gotten this from a lot of people but then again maybe I’m just a different breed to them. I like who I am and how dependent I’ve become as a person. I hate to be smothered with affection anyone who truly knows me (everyone literally says that sentence) knows that I’m the least affectionate person because I was never introduced to affection as a kid. Which makes it sound like I had a sad childhood but honestly someone out there has had it 10 times harder than me so who am I to complain. Having the same routine everyday drives me literally insane I have to do at least one crazy thing everyday and today I literally touched noses with a ferret in biomed. Huh, I guess I knew more about myself than I thought.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the prompt I had a mini identity crisis. In all honesty I don't completely understand or know who I am at this stage of my life, we’re constantly growing as people and because of that I feel like it's okay to not completely know who you are right now. My therapist (lol) has disagreed with me on this point and feels that I know exactly who I am as a person. What I do know is that I keep a strong guard up when it comes to any kind or relationship, new or old. I refuse to let myself get walked over and taken advantage of. I have a strong sense of what I want from life and a good vision of what I want myself to become. I would also say that I have that “I don't care what you think of me” type of attitude. I make decisions and move through this world for me, when I write it out like that it sounds a little selfish but that's genuinely how I feel. I never want to forget about myself and what i stand for, people tend to do that as they get into relationships and friendships and that's not how I want to end up. To truly know who you are as a person I feel as though you need to have experiences, good or bad. Without experience you won't be able to grow or change. Peoples character forms because of what they've been through, and to me that sounds like a blessing and a curse.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that people take the time to figure out who the people around them are. People also don’t understand me because I barely understand myself. If I had to define myself, I wouldn’t know what to say because tbh, I still don’t know who I am. I have changed so much over the years and I’m still changing. I see myself as a person that cares about people, wants a good future, and likes to challenge herself. But, not everyone see the same side of me. My friends, teachers, and parents all have different point of views of me. My parents see me as someone that is smart, mature, and strong. My friends think that I’m caring and responsible, and my teachers normally think that I’m quiet until they get to know me. Personally, I think that I’m a little bit of all of those traits mixed together. I also would describe myself with a collection of traits and hobbies because there is nothing else to strip down. This is because, the after school activities that I’m apart of and different sides of me that people see are all apart of me. They shaped me into the person that I am today and I would never want to change that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this question it made me realize I really don’t know myself. I feel like a lot of people at around sixteen/seventeen find this question hard to answer, and as time goes on and I experience more in my life I will know more about myself. As of right now if I had to define myself id say I’m someone who really enjoys spending time with my friends whenever I can but I seem to find it a lot harder to have time for that in my busy schedule. I like to run Cross Country and Track, and like to make the occasional Youtube videos and Vlogs. I like being able to help others, and I always strive to be the best when I do something, whatever it is, sports or academic. I don’t always try and be friends with everyone, but I'm also not antisocial, I’m just in the middle if there was such place. I just like to have a small group of friends that I can trust and rely on. I feel like it is a collection of everything that defines a person, including their traits hobbies and virtues. If I stripped myself of these things I don’t think it would be me since those traits, hobbies, and virtues are what makes myself who I am.
ReplyDeleteI think I can safely assume that the people who I enjoy spending time with, whether it’s in school or outside of school, know me pretty well. I also think that I know myself pretty well meaning that I know who I am. I have a name, a background, a story, just like everyone else. I consider myself a decent person made up of dreams, goals, and, on the more literal side, blood, skin, and bone. I’m your average joe with various flaws and qualities. If my name had a definition, it would revolve around my probably too critical beliefs and my bubbly, yet sometimes harsh character. I don’t think I’d be able to define myself completely without my traits, hobbies, and virtues. These three things pushed me towards become a stronger minded person who values common sense. I also think that it’s how other people define me as well.
ReplyDeleteI feel like to be able to still define yourself without listing traits, hobbies, and virtues then you have to truly know yourself. But for me, even listing all those things would be difficult. I think I don’t have a stable sense of my identity, and it’s a huge struggle for me. I don’t have a concrete image of myself. In terms of identity, I’m constantly changing according to the situation I’m in, or whatever I think people expect from me. It’s a flaw of mine, obviously, and I hope to continue to learn of more aspects of myself and discover who I am.
ReplyDeleteTo start off, I’d like to point out the fact that my first instinct when reading this blog post was to ask someone else how they would describe me. I feel like I don’t know myself well enough, similar to many other people in the class, it seems. As a teenager of only 17 years old, I still have a while before I can truly discover who I am as a person, so this blog is exceptionally hard to answer at this point in my life. If I had to provide someone with a definition of “Chris Dib”, I’d probably say something like this:
ReplyDeleteChris Dib (n.) - A hardworking individual who will complete any task given to him. Usually these tasks are completed at the last minute, and poor time management is a common problem that is run into. Often times, he will listen to other people’s problems and provide whatever advice may be necessary, expecting the same from those around him. He is self-sufficient, and is extremely optimistic to see what the future has to offer. Staying close to his faith and morals, he will abide by what he views as right, while making sure to have fun and experience life’s opportunities to their fullest extent. He does get angry easily, but will take the necessary time to cool off in order to prevent further problems from occurring with others.
Synonyms: Procrastinator, helpful, short-tempered, understanding, courteous, well-mannered, opinionated, curious
Like several others my age, I feel that no one truly knows me, nor do I even know myself. If I had to describe myself, I would say that, although I may look serious 80% of the time (it’s simply my resting face), I am an optimist and try to find humor in whatever I can. Since humor gives me happiness and has helped me to interact with more people, I would say it plays an immense role in my true self. I’m not sure how to define myself since I act differently around different people; around some, I’m laid back and constantly joking around, but around others I may be serious or quiet. I am still trying to figure out who I truly am, but the definition for myself would contain my sports and hobbies, traits, and virtues since they helped shape me to become what I am today, as well as expose me to new friends. Since my sports, traits, and virtues describe me, if I was stripped of those three things, I would not be able to define myself.
ReplyDeleteWhen I asked myself who I was, it was probably one of the hardest question I've had to answer. The first answer that came to mine was "I don't know." I don't really think about myself too often to the point where I ask myself who I truly am. I feel like other people know more of who I truly am as a person. At the age of 16, it is very hard to tell what kind of person I am. But if I was asked who I was inside, I can answer that. I, Zian Pena, would consider myself to be selfless, sweet, thoughtful, understanding, and very idealistic. If I had to write a definition for my name it would be...
ReplyDeleteZian Pena - An open-minded individual who cares a lot for the important people in his life more than he cares for himself.
If I were to strip these traits out of my definition, I believe I can still define myself as a person. I believe so because everyone can be described in many different ways. Its all on yours or other people's perspective.
I feel as if I am a good leader but I can lead more sometimes. I could take more leadership opportunities as I sometimes lack confidence in myself. Examples of this is when I’m surrounded by academy kids at college soccer camps. I know that I can lead a team and can keep up with the academy kids, but when I lack confidence I feel small and I do need to build up more confidence in myself a lot more. Other than that I’m pretty sure I’m a funny guy to people I know and sometimes people I don’t know, my confidence problem comes into that too. If I would deny myself, it would be funny, caring, pretty smart, athletic, leader, loyal, and there’s many more but those are the main ones. I also sometimes lack common sense but that’s part of being funny. My hobbies are simple, get grades, play soccer, and enjoy my friends, family, and my girl. Without those three things I’d be down a dark path in life, probably doing nothing but video games and eating. My most important trait of all is not giving up and having a winning mentality. This helps with more than just soccer, it helps with school and life in general. If I’d sit there in school complaining about how hard classes were, I’d have crap grades and would blame it on everyone else but me. I show this in AP Physics, yes our teacher might be bad at teaching but if I sat there and complained I wouldn’t be passing it and I’d give up and drop it. I also know when to blame myself for problems which is important.
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