yolo: a sentimental post

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the way people view the world and how I’ve changed over the past four years at Villanova.  I feel like I’ve learned a lot during my college career - both in and out of the classroom.  That being said, however, I think the most important thing I’ve learned about life is this: be the best version of yourself that you can offer.  Just be your best you.

In the past four years, I’ve made friendships that have lasted and ones that haven’t.  I’ve been in romantic relationships that were good and ones that were not healthy for me.  When I take time to really look back and examine my interactions with other people, I think I finally understand why certain friendships and relationships worked and why others didn’t.  For the ones that didn’t work out, it was because I wasn’t being my best me, my true self.  

A lot of times in college, when people are trying to figure out who they are, they get insecure about themselves for one reason or another.  Everyone I know has had, at one point or another, a time where they felt ugly, stupid, had a bad hair day, failed a test, etc.  The list could go on for days.  When it comes down to it, though, why are we all so concerned about impressing others?  I’d be lying if I said I’m completely confident in myself 100% of the time - I’m not.  But what I have learned over the past four years is that the times where I’ve felt insecure are the times that helped me the most.  I know everyone says that it’s stupid to be insecure and that you should always be happy with yourself, but the truth is, insecurities are not always a bad thing.  Quite the contrary, actually.  The things we are usually most insecure about are usually our most endearing qualities.  Insecurities can connect us to other people, and ultimately, they help us realize what we believe our greatest weaknesses, setting those weaknesses in opposition to our perceived strengths.

Our insecurities can inspire us to be better, can reveal the need for not only friendship but true friendship.  The best part about the things we’re insecure about, though, like I said before, is that they’re usually our greatest, most authentic, real qualities.  When I was younger, I sometimes spoke with a lisp because I couldn’t spit out words as fast as my brain would form thoughts.  Admittedly, sometimes when I’m drunk now that I’m older, that lisp rears its “evil” head (and it’s been deemed adorable on occasion, as well, I’ll have you know).  Now, I’m not saying that lisps are the most attractive thing in the world, but I’m not ashamed of it because of how far I’ve come from having that lisp.  Because I worked so hard to overcome it, I’ve become confident in my public speaking and in communicating with others, rarely hesitating to speak up.  I was able to turn a weakness into a strength.

Like I said before, the things we’re most concerned about are usually the most unique and endearing parts about us.  I know that I pick my friends based on their personalities and not on their appearances.  The truth is that if you’re so concerned with always impressing others around you, you’re not going to be able to let them see your true self.  If people become your friend when you haven’t been honest about who you are, the unique and quirky you that most people would probably love, then can you really consider them to be true friends?  

Just be you.  Be the best version of you that you have to offer.  The most wonderful, fulfilling friendships I have are the ones in which people get to see every side of me.  Sure, I have bad days, but more often than not, I’m just a goofball who wants to experience everything life has to offer.  I’ve come a long way from the little girl with a slight speech impediment to a senior on the verge of graduating from one of the best universities in the country.  I’m so happy I got to have four years to truly learn about who I am, what I like, and what I want from life.  I can’t wait to see what the next chapter of my life holds, and although I’m scared, I plan on approaching it the way I approach any situation in life: by being the best, truest, most authentic version of myself that I have to offer.  I may be a dorky goofball sometimes, but the world doesn’t need people who doubt themselves and try to conform to what they think others will like.  The world needs people who can be comfortable and happy in their own skin.  So just be yourself (and I’m not saying it in a ‘we should all gather around the campfire and sing kumbaya’ kind of way).  Be yourself.  Be weird, be fun, be sad, be angry, be quirky, be funny, be sick, be healthy, be stressed, but most importantly, be happy and be authentic.  You only live once, so why not live life as yourself?