I love to talk. If you were to come up to me on the street—even if you were a random stranger—I would gladly hold a conversation with you about anything. Preferably, I would want it to be about food or Taylor Swift or my pillow pets or something, but honestly, I love to talk about anything. So, you could imagine my pleasure when Karen, an American Studies Major that graduated in 1993, told me to spend my time talking to people.
“I talked to a lot of people, and the best thing about that was the questions they asked me, which forced me to be more introspective and make sure I was answering and thinking in a way that was true to myself and not what other people expected. It was really helpful to talk to a range of people, not just my parents, professors, and friends.”
Luckily, that’s exactly what my internship has entailed. As I have mentioned in previous posts, talking to such amazing women made me really think about what I want to do in the future. However, Karen’s advice has motivated me to talk to fellow students I have never met before, to ask professionals in specific fields if they see me alongside them, and, yes, to speak to my professors, friends, and family about their opinions, too.
All of the people I speak to ask me questions, just like Karen said, challenging me to think and respond for myself. Even if in the moment I am afraid to answer “incorrectly” or hear them say no, they don’t think I can make it as an author, or no, I don’t have the grammar skills to go into editing (seriously, this could be a huge problem…Y’all should be thankful CP&R edits my posts), they are giving me something to think about. If they don’t think I can be an author but their questions make me realize that I do want to be just that, then I will just have to prove them wrong.
Like Karen, my dad has always told me to stay true to myself. For as long as I can remember, the motto “be your own person” has been drilled into my head.
Dad: “Olivia, what are you going to remember on your first day of Kindergarten?”
Five-year-old Olivia: “To be my own person!”
Dad: “Olivia, who cares if they are bullying you? What is the only thing that matters?”
Seven-year-old Olivia: “That I am my own person!”
Dad: “Liv, honey, what do you want to be for Halloween this year?”
(Pause as eight-year-old Olivia thinks about the “correct” answer): “Um…my own person?”
Can I just take a moment to say here that I love Dylan O’Brian? Sadly, even he is annoyed with how oblivious my eight year old self sounds as she answers the question.
You get the idea.
Extensive questioning, whether it comes from others or yourself, is (in my opinion) one of the best ways to find out what you feel and what you want. It forces you to be self aware, which is so incredibly important when making decisions about your future.
“I found a way to be fulfilled when I was focused on me,” Karen said near the end of our interview. Being self aware is incredibly important at times. I’m not saying you should always be focused on you, but when it comes to your future, you should aware of what you think and feel. Take the classes you want to take, follow the career path you want to take, but make sure you research, you question, and you answer questions, always having that little voice inside your head prompting you to be your own person.