The Best Years of Your Life

College is a place to "find yourself". Before coming to college you rely on your family and friends at home to get you through the day. When coming to college, it's almost like you have to start over. Find new friends, take on new challenges, and find a way to balance it all. Going away from school can be hard because you are away from your family and your old friends. Your family is a big part of who you are. The way you are raised and traits your parents pass on to you shape how you act and live your life. Your friends are also a part of you. Who you surround yourself with says a lot about you, if you truly surround yourself with people who you can relate to and get along with. Your friends show what kind of values and personality you have. When you first come to college, most people try to find people who share common interests and values. You try to find people you get along with and have fun with. College is also a time to figure out how you handle stress, tough decisions, and a heavy workload. It can really show the kind of character you have. You learn new things and apply them to what you already know and practice. You learn to work with people who are different from you and maybe take something away from them. You are also on the track to figuring out what career path to choose. You are finding what your interests are and what kind of work you would like to do in the future. Finding your place in organizations also identifies with who you are. College is a time to be on your own and figure out what your potential is. It's also a time to stand up for what you believe in and not give in to the pressures around you. However, you may identify with people around you who believe in or value the same things you do and create strong bonds with those people. Here at Ohio State, you become a part of something bigger. It means a lot to say that you are a Buckeye. The experiences you have during your college years are ones that you will remember for the rest of your life.

Saying Goodbye

Death is not an easy thing. Especially if the person is someone close to you. I think that death shapes who we are. It makes us take a look at our own life and evaluate how we are living. It also takes a toll on us personally. I have myself only experienced the death of a loved one once. Sophomore year of high school my great grandmother, who lived alone, had fell and was in the hospital. She was 90 years old and the doctors said that they didn't think she would make it because her body wasn't strong enough. My family and I were devastated. My great grandma had 8 children so I have a pretty big family. We all went to see her in the hospital. We each took turns talking to her. When I was talking to her she told me to get off the couch and do something. I laughed because she knew that I didn't like to exercise and I wasn't that active. Even though I knew she was only talking about becoming more active, I felt more motivated to do things to make sure she would be proud. I did start exercising more and I became more motivated to do better in school. I always make sure that whatever I do that my great grandma would be proud. You really don't know how much you would miss someone until you lose them. She was a big part in our family. Going through this together, however, made us all stronger and closer with each other.

Another time I have seen a change in someone when they have experienced death is when one of my co-workers lost his twin brother. It was really hard to see him so upset and see him lose someone so close to him like that. It really took a toll on everyone too because he was so young. He got in an accident. To see someone pass away with that much potential is a very hard thing. I think my co-worker did a really good job of taking something bad that happened and making the best of it. He is now working hard to live his life with no regrets and making sure he's doing everything he wants to do. He's taking advantage of the time he has because you never know what will happen or what the future holds.

Death can shape our views of our own life and not take for granted the time and things we have. It makes us think about what we're doing in our life and where we are going. It helps us grow stronger and build relationships with the people around us.

Who are you?

Many people in today's society are afraid to show their "true colors". People today can be harsh and judgmental. Time and time again I see my fellow peers try to pretend to be someone that everyone will like. I ask them why? Why should people care about what others think of them? I understand that most people want to be liked by their peers and have relationships with people, but is it really worth it if you have to pretend to be someone you're not? Do you really want to be friends with these people if you think they aren't going to like you for who you are? People should not be judged on race, gender, or sexual preference.

The latter is what upsets me the most. To see people be afraid to express their sexuality because they are worried about what other people will think. One of my really good guy friends from my high school is gay. When he first told me, he said he was scared of what I would think. He said he was afraid that I wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore. Of course I would still be friends with him. No matter if he was gay or straight he would always be one of my good friends. It was sad to see that some people that he was friends with stopped talking to him because he told them that he was gay. It really upsets me that people refuse to accept people for who they are. Just because they are gay doesn't mean they aren't the same person you were friends with yesterday. It's just really frustrating to me to see people be so close minded. Homosexuals are people too. They like others of the same sex, so what? It doesn't by any means suggest that they are bad people. I think a lot of people just aren't willing to accept that society is changing. At some point we have to though.

Body and the Media

The body is seen as a part of your identity. In our culture, as shown through various advertisements and other forms of media, the bodies of men and women are used to sell their product or to get a point across. Women and men are seen as just a body not as their full self. Like in the Axe ads the women are attracted to the men because of the way they look and smell not to the actual men. People are obsessed with their weight and how they look and forget to think about how they act and portray themselves. I think the media puts the image of what you should look like and that's all people care about. They are concerned with how other people see them. Its sad to see people obsess with that when there is so much more to you than the way you look. While I do see the body as part of your identity, I don't think that it is that significant. I believe that it doesn't really matter what you look like. What counts is the kind of person you are, how you act around and treat other people, and your personality. I think our society today has lost that. I believe that the media affects people's view of themselves and its not always in a positive way. I don't think people should focus on what the media says or what other people think. I think they should be happy with who they are for themselves not for someone else.

The Buried Life

I was just watching The Buried Life and thought "This would be perfect for my blog." The Buried Life is a show on MTV that follows four friends who have a list of 100 things to do before they die. The show follows them as they travel across the country trying to complete all the tasks on their list. For everything they cross off their list, they find a stranger and help the stranger cross something off of their list. The guys wanted to help encourage people to think about and complete the things that they have on their list. It's made to motivate you to take a risk and chase after your dream. The show proves that nothing is impossible and if you put your mind and effort into something you can accomplish it.

Everyone has their own dreams, aspirations, or just random things they want to accomplish. I believe that this is part of your identity. The things you have a desire to do and accomplish makes up a part of who you are. Achieving these goals and dreams also becomes a part of you, something that you can be proud of. The experience that you gain while you are pursuing your dream shapes you as a person. It helps you find your place in the world and helps identify you. In the end it's the journey thats the destination.

"What do you want to do before you die?"
-The Buried Life

Some things that they had on their list:
#24. Go to a rock concert in all leather.
#33. Get something named after you.
#57. Spend a week in silence.
#59. Deliver a baby.
#79. Dance with Ellen Degeneres.
#99. Host Saturday Night Live.

You can watch this show on MTV Mondays at 10 p.m. or visit their website http://www.theburiedlife.com.