This question comes up at least once in everyone's lives. I can guarantee it. And if you've asked yourself this before you will know what I mean when I say that it is double edged sword.
The obvious answer is "I am (insert name here). I am me." But what does it mean? I always find this difficult whenever you are required to write a letter introducing yourself, or, in my case, a slide in a presentation including things that I 'think' represent me. I am not lying, the word think is included in the instructions.
Me, along with many of my good friends in the class (cough* Juliebee_Summers) are stumped. I know I am lucky enough to be content with myself, my likes and interests... but who I am is an entirely different question. I read Pete Townshend's "Who I Am" cover to cover and don't actually know who he is. I mean, he's obviously Pete Townshend, one of the greatest guitarists and songwriters in the world...
I think it was Einstein who said: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." How do you explain the events of your life leading up to the moment in time you're telling someone this that leads you to the person you are today? Can you explain the tremendous effect of the death of a friend on a venerable ninth grader to a group of people you don't particularly like? This is another point.
How do you explain yourself without crossing the line? Where is the line? How much information is too much information?
I am lucky enough to be comfortable with my personality and interests. And I am fully willing to recognize my flaws as a part of who I am. I can often talk too much. I stutter when I'm nervous. I obsess about things that I think half the time people don't care about, or don't understand. But you know what? My friends accept me and all my flaws, as I accept them and all theirs. (Jokes, they don't have any!)
Where was I? I was considering using one of three quotes that I like to put on this slide. (I didn't even want to get into song lyrics) The one my friend Leah helped me decide on was this one said by the great John Lennon: "When I was 5 years old my mother always told me that happiness was the key to like. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life."
It's a truly brilliant quote and I feel like it represents me at the same time it doesn't. I would never say any such thing to a teacher, especially at five. But, that is the kind of attitude I would have and share such snarky comments with my friends after the fact. Happy is all I want to be. I don't care what I do with the rest of my life. If I'm not a writer, or a filmmaker or an artist so be it. As long as I can smile when my life flashes before my eyes, I don't think it matters. This doesn't mean I won't try to be an artist, filmmaker and writer. I have aspirations and career goals. I just hope everything works out in the end.
How do I communicate this to a group of where half of the students are getting less than 50% in a class that is essentially personality quizzes?
I could put pictures of some of my favourite bands, or idols but that isn't who I am. If I could actually draw and comprise some sort of picture that combines all of my interests and values and stuff. I'd be set. As I write this I'm trying to decide for myself what to do with that slide and as I come to the end of this. I still haven't made up my mind.
I guess the final thing I have to say is if you say you know who you are, you're lying. Shit happens every second of the day. The world is constantly changing and there's no real way of knowing how things are going to affect you. Even the smallest things could inspire you to change your lifestyle, attitude or whatever. I'd like to think that maybe in the end we'll get to find out who exactly we are.
