For my first blog post ever, I, Chanda Hayes, want to make a statement about who I am. When I am asked to tell about myself, I usually answer, “I am eighteen years old and a senior year in high school. My favorite color is purple. I like to listen to music.” But is that who I really am? No, those are just the basics. For a more in depth description, I am timid and quiet, as most would agree. I don’t like to talk in front of big crowds where I am the center of attention. Most importantly, I believe, I am my own person and no one else.
When I was small, I always wished to be like other girls. I always wanted what they had. Just like anyone else, I wanted to be the person who could stand up in front of the class and make the whole class laugh, but I never was and probably never will be due to the plain fact that I am neither hilarious nor confident enough. I wasn’t born with humor and I do not have high self-confidence. I was however born with different qualities. I often catch myself saying that I am not this and I am not that. Then I think to myself, why worry about what I am not when I could be focusing on what great qualities I do have. I gave this a lot thought and it has lead me to be embrace my characteristics and be grateful for them.
The major characteristic that most people would describe me of being is shy. I used to hate being shy and quiet. I wondered why I wasn’t able to speak my mind. I didn’t like that I wasn’t able to talk to anyone about anything. It often led me to want to be like others until the day someone told to cherish my shyness. It was honestly an awakening. My whole life my relatives would mention how quiet I was and it would somehow put me down. Now that I have been told that shyness is a great quality to have, I actually believe it and am able to embrace it. I don’t have to go around yearning to be gregarious and loud. I can just be me. Trust me, I still have times where I wish I wasn’t as shy because my grade had depended on it, but the best I could do was go one step at a time.
As a senior in high school, I may not truly know who I am supposed to be, but I do know who I am right now. I am someone who is shy, kind, and smart. I live to my own morals and believe in what I want to believe. I don’t let others define me and I no longer want to be someone else because they have something better than me. I am who I am and I was put on this earth to be just me, Chanda, and no one else.
