By Katie Poe, Backpage Editor
As a writer who has spent the entirety of this academic year exploring various topics of self-discovery and how students can learn more about themselves, I am always intrigued by the range of Georgetown College students’ perceptions about what self-discovery even is.
While I may write advice about self-realization or stories of students exploring their personal identities, the truth is that my articles do not always meet the vast spectrum of perceptions. However, it is abundantly important that these various ideas of self-discovery be acknowledged and affirmed, with a special consideration to how students’ perceptions influence their own personal growth journey.
I recently spoke with a group of students about how they believe college has helped them in terms of self-discovery. In response, one student asked me about what I considered self-exploration to be, which turned out to be very different from her own. Admittedly, I should have first asked each student what they considered self-discovery to be before I asked them about how college helped them develop this.
Although my writings may occasionally and inadvertently project my personal views of self-discovery, catering to those who share similar opinions, the truth is that not everyone shares the same opinion of what finding themselves looks like. While I tend to view self-discovery as gaining insight about one’s personal identity, identifying strengths and weaknesses, focusing on personal growth and so on, my recent conversations illustrate that students have very different perceptions of self-exploration.
For one student, she believed that finding oneself was entirely about recognizing and honing her strengths and developing her weak areas. With this mindset, the student felt that she had much further to go in her personal growth journey, as she did not yet feel confident in the areas where she felt weakest.
On the other hand, another student answered that self-discovery was rooted in developing one’s independence and self-reliance. When asked about college’s role in her personal exploration journey, the student said: “It’s helped make me more independent by having to make my own decisions and not having my parents around.” While the student agreed that she had areas she wished to work on, she felt that she had come far in her journey of personal growth.
From these few very different viewpoints, it becomes clear that how people perceive self-exploration has even broader implications than just personal opinion. One’s view of self-discovery not only dictates the path they choose to follow, but it also helps students determine where they lie on their journey.
Further, it may be tempting to compare oneself to another whom we perceive to be further along the path of self-realization. However, everyone has a different view of what they deem to be personal exploration, and thus it is a disservice to yourself to compare your path to someone who follows a journey different from your own.
While some, like myself, may sometimes feel locked into our own ideas of what we deem self-discovery to be, it is pertinent that we acknowledge and affirm that there is a vast spectrum of students’ perceptions of personal growth. With this knowledge, hopefully we can give ourselves some grace in knowing that our path will often not look like another’s path.
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