Who am I? Let me tell you.

Who are you? The age old question that follows us thorough-out our lives, but seems to be most prevalent during our young adult years when we’re “discovering ourselves”. I truly believe that each and every day I discover something new about myself that I can add to my list of what makes me, me. Maybe this is because I’m in my young adult years and the value of learning about myself will taper off as I age, or maybe it’s because you never stop challenging and discovering who you are.

So far, in my twenty one years of experience, I can say that I am confident and observant. My confidence level has lead me to become a leader, which can mean many different things to people, but I believe that being a leader means being a role model or even a trendsetter. I’ve always been a take-charge kind of person and my earliest memory of this dates back to the age of six. I went to a private school, so my creativity in fashion was limited due to the fact that everyone wore the same navy cardigan, tunic, white blouse and black shoes. My only outlet of creative expression was my hair. To combat the conformity, I put measuring spoons on my headband. The next day, two other girls came into the classroom with measuring spoons on their headbands – much to the chagrin of their Mothers. This was when I realized that I was an influencer and a trendsetter and I liked that feeling. In between those 15 years, I’ve honed my leadership skills and my confidence in myself and my abilities has grown.     

My growth and confidence has a great deal to do with the lessons my parents have taught me. As the daughter of two psychologists, I didn’t have a “normal” upbringing. I don’t think many kids knew their personality letters by age eight or what the terms extravert or introvert mean. Being aware of myself at such a young age allowed me to become aware of other people. This doesn’t just mean reading into and picking up on verbal and non-verbal clues, it means seeing and understanding the rationale behind why people do what they do and say what they say. No, I’m not a mind reader and don’t have any kind of sixth sense, but what I do have is an understanding of people. On many occasions, I have picked up on the feelings of my friends that they’re not expressing based on their language choice and tone when telling a story. When I share these observations with them, they often say, “How did you know that?” or “I have never thought about it that way, but you’re right”. This ability has allowed me to build strong relationships in both my personal and professional life, which is something that is extremely important to me.  

As I continue down the path of my personal discovery, I am sure that my confidence level and ability to observe and understand people will grow. I will have many more encounters and life lessons that will teach me how to best use these talents that help make me, me.