Finding Myself on Campus

By Fatma Bujsaim (@Fatma_Bujsaim)

For fourteen years, we have lived with no worries over what to wear to school; the uniform was our savior. If we ever bothered to think much about our clothes, it would probably be over what sweater or cardigan to wear, maybe even what shoes.
Walking as a freshman through the corridors of the university campus, looking at the different people and their way in dressing, it makes us wonder where do we belong and who we really are.
We start trying out the different styles, looking for a place or a gang to fit in with. From the sporty and practical to the elegant or extravagant, we might even try the Barbie look. Some days we will try wearing heels and on other days we will throw on some sneakers. We keep experimenting until we find that one look that makes us feel like ‘us’, the appearance that makes us look at the person reflecting in the mirror and say “THAT is me”
Whether we were popular kids in high school, nerds, posh or emos, university is the place where we find who we really are. It is the place where we get to explore ourselves and test everything surrounding us and beyond.
I do not say this in terms of our sense of fashion or our style alone. I am talking about all aspects in our life. We start exploring the way we talk, walk, and act with different people. We learn the best way of communicating that suits us. We learn it by persuading our professors to raise our grade or convincing our classmates with our argument.
When we applied for university/college as high school seniors, some of us already knew what we wanted to study while a lot of us did not. Regardless of which of the previous groups we fell in, we all drift away from what we wanted in some way or another. Some might decide to change the whole major, some might add a minor to it, and some might even try out courses from two or three different colleges to figure things out.
All the changes and hassles we go through are just attempts to find ourselves; find the place where we truly belong. Finding something that interests us is like finding the door that will lead us to our own playground, the place where we are most comfortable in and doing what we love.
A lot of us change the path we originally came from. Some of us will jump in between paths trying to make them one, to find the place where he/she belongs.
Somewhere between sophomore and junior year we start seeing things differently but in a good way; our own way I guess. Day after day, we start understanding ourselves more, and at some point, we get a better and clearer view of who we are and where we want to be. We draw paintings inspired by imaginary images of the future from our minds, and bring them to life to make them a reality.
So if you changed your mind with what you wanted to do in your life or who you want to be, that is all right. We all did. And if at some point you felt lost and confused and did not know who you are, that is also okay; apparently it is part of being human.
There is no problem in discovering one’s self, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with trying different things; to find that place where we can say that this is me.
This, my friends, is what I found out while I am on campus. I wonder if that is going to change after graduation.

Here We Start – Think Aloud – Interview – Scenes from Life
Just Another Undergrad – Society of Tomorrow – Spotlights