Words for Wednesday: Being Yourself

When I was scrolling through Pinterest today I found this quote: "You can't let people scare you. You can't go your whole life trying to please everyone else. You can't go through life worried about what everyone else is going to think. Whether it's your hair, clothes, what you have to say, how you feel, what you believe and what you have. You can't let the judgment of others stop you from being you. Because if you do, you're no longer you. You're someone everyone else wants you to be."

Lately I've been thinking a lot about this. I have always been a big advocate of just being yourself and not caring what other people think about you, but it wasn't until college that I really truly found myself. Parts of my personality that existed in high school became even more prominent in college and I also found myself gaining more confidence. For some people that holds true and for others their personality changes completely.

These days its hard to find truly genuine people because everyone is trying to impress people for whatever their personal reasons are. People begin to lose the power, the passion, the freedom and the joy of being unique. As Dan Coppersmith puts it, "It's much easier to love yourself when you are being yourself." The quote seems perfectly true to me considering, how can you love yourself knowing that you are pretending to be something you're not. I think people are scared of showing their true personalities because they live in constant fear of being rejected. I mean who doesn't want to be loved by everyone? Ultimately, all we want as human beings is to feel accepted. But, what if we can't accept ourselves even if we gain acceptance from others. Are we truly happy then?  I know I wouldn't be happy unless I accepted myself.

We need to stop worrying what others think and focus on how we feel about ourselves. Do we like the person we are? If we do, then what do other people's opinions of us matter. Plus, how can we be sincerely loved by other people if we don't really love ourselves. These are just some things to think about this summer. Are you happy with yourself and the way your life has been going? Are you the person you want to be?

For some of you who don't even know where to start with finding your true self, here are some tips:
1) Work to find your passions and follow them: If you don't know what your true passion is, that's okay. Try different things and find what you do enjoy. When you do find that special something, don't let it get away. Follow it!

2) Know your values: We all have a built in set of personal values. If we loose touch with those values, we loose ourselves. Identify your values and make every effort to live by them.

3) Start doing things you enjoy: If you enjoy playing a sport, listening to a certain genre of music, playing an instrument, or doing a certain hobby. Do it! Don't stop because some one thinks it's stupid. Do what makes you happy.

Love,
Alexa

The College Years: Freshman Year

Normally I don't like to post about myself on my blog, but I thought it would be nice to reflect on this past year at Ithaca College. I cannot be more thankful for this past year of my life. I can honestly say this has been the most eye opening and life changing year for me. The opportunities that came into my life this year have been incredible. When I first really looked into Ithaca College after doing an overnight stay, I fell in love with it. However, I didn't realize how much I could really love it until the moment I stepped foot onto this campus as a college freshman.

Right from the beginning the opportunities came. I found the most amazing friends I could have asked for here and it all started thanks to the Jumpstart Program. Deciding with my roommate to move in early for the Community Plunge Jumpstart Program was the best decision I have ever made. Not only was it a great way to get involved with the downtown Ithaca community, but I met my best friends in the program. I'm so glad to say that we are all really good friends now and I am going to truly miss them this summer! Besides making great friends at Ithaca, there are so many other cool things that happened to me and here are just a few:

1) Meeting Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka McLovin): Did I ever imagine only a month into school that I would be meeting two awesome celebrities? I think not. This year the Park School brought the biggest talents to Ithaca. I was lucky enough to bump into these celebrities after staking out Park with one of my friends. Bumping into them going to the bathroom outside the dean's suite was honestly one of the coolest moments of my life.

2) Meeting Chad Hurley (Co-founder of Youtube): Again, Ithaca is awesome. Not only did Chad Hurley come to speak at Ithaca, but I was able to interview him with a few other friends for WICB radio! This was probably one of the highlights of my journalism career. It also gave me a competitive edge in my journalism class considering we had to write a news article on the event due the next morning. The coolest part of the night besides interviewing Chad Hurley was staying up all night with one of my good friends trying to work on our deadline article for class. Both of us felt like real journalists.

3) Becoming a part of ICTV and Radio: Being a Parkie has seriously changed my life forever. I love my park friends and community. Everyone here is so welcoming and willing to help when needed. As a freshman I have already gained so much experience with television and radio. I became an Assistant Producer on Newswatch on ICTV, a newscaster on WICB/VIC Radio, and a reality TV reporter/anchor on Entertainment 16 on ICTV. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with these shows. They have all been such a great learning experience.

4) Meeting Seth Meyers: Weekend Update anyone? This was probably one of the most exciting events I have been to at Ithaca College. I am a huge fan of Seth Meyers and I was so over the moon about him coming to campus. I even got into the mini-course he did a Q & A for and sat in the front row. Listening to the advice and stories he gave made me really excited to start my career in the entertainment industry.

5) Meeting all my Ithaca friends: Coming to college for the first time I was so worried about making good friends. Little did I know that I would meet such amazing and relatable people. I have to say it was honestly luck how we all met. I really have to blame Jumpstart for that one. The group of girls I was put into a group with to go around the Ithaca neighborhood to go get signatures for a petition, are great friends of mine today. Some how we all just clicked. We all have the same humor and such distinctive personalities. I can laugh with these girls, cry with these girls, and most of all love these girls :) Thank you Ithaca for introducing me to such cool people.

There are so many specific events/memories I could talk on and on about, but I don't want to bore anyone haha. Overall, this year has been an incredible experience. I don't want my freshman year to end. I never knew I could love college so much until I got here. I am excited to go back to my hometown, but I'm also sad to leave the place I can now call home. But I'll see you in 16 weeks, Ithaca!!

Hope you all have one kickass summer! Enjoy the warmth before we all head back to the tundra/home we call Ithaca, NY.

Love,
Alexa