FREE ESSAY ON WHO I AM

WHO I AM

Who am I?
During all of high school, I seemed as if I were hiding behind a mask. When I was at home
I was a totally different person. At school I was trying to be a person who could fit in,
but the more I tried the more it didn't seem to work. Everywhere I went I would censor
what I said depending on my surroundings and the people that were with me. Most of the
time I would not say anything at all because I was afraid of being embarrassed. I would
always have to change my mode when different people were around me. It was horrible; I
hated it. I was getting sick and tired of always being someone I was not. It was about
the middle of the summer of 1999, after my junior year, that I realized that being two
different people was the worst thing that I could that done to myself and that I did have
other options.
Around that time, a major influence on my life was my cousin, Ben. He taught me that I
would only live once and that I should be the person that I was and not some one that
just tries to fit in. We were sitting a in a coffee shop, one evening, when he asked me
the one question than changed my life. "Who are you?" When I first heard this question I
hesitated to answer. This question opened a new door in my mind that had never been
opened before. This was the first question that had actually made me think about myself
and who I was. The more I thought about his question the more I realized that I had a
decision to make; to be the person who tried to fit in and cared what other people
thought or to be myself. For the past 16 years I had tried to fit in, and I had cared
what other people thought and this hadn't seemed to work. So, for the first time, I was
going to be myself. 
When I started to be myself, it seemed as if everything was different. I used to look at
was only on the surface. I would not normally look deeply into a particular subject. When
I was myself, the environment seemed as if it had a deeper meaning. Every thing I saw,
heard, smelled, and felt I would perceive it in a extremely different way than ever
before. Because of this, I was able to take what I had learned and apply it to many
different things. 
When I went back to school, things were completely changed, my view toward life had
changed, the people around me changed and my relationship with my family was changed. For
example, before I realized this my grades at school were decent but not the best that
could be because I was lazy. After I got to school everything kind of fell together, it
all made sense. I realized that if I did the work first I could be lazy later and not
have to worry about it. As a result, my grades sky-rocketed my senior year. 
In school, my circle of friends were people that I had been going to school with since
sixth grade. I also had friends that were not in my circle. When I went back to school I
decided to be one person, myself. After the first month, I realized that most all of my
friends were all single serving friends. That is, they were friends only during good
times and that's all. Most of my friends slowly parted from me because I went my own way.
I didn't try to fit in. At this time in my life I found out who my real friends were and
who I really was.
As my attitude changed so did my relations with my family. My sister and I fought all the
time. It was always about small stupid stuff that was not really relevant. One day while
we were having a small quarrel, I stopped and took a step back and looked at the big
picture. It hit me, I realized that I shouldn't sweat the small stuff. People are not
perfect, they do make mistakes. After this day it seemed as if my sister and I had the
perfect relationship. I was also able to really connect with the people in my family. The
bond between my family and I has grown stronger ever since. 
Through what I have learned, I was able to put myself into other peoples shoes and see
their point of view as well as my own, giving me new perspectives and insight in all
areas of life. Everyday is a new day, and I take one day at a time. So, who am I? I am
not a person who tries to fit in, I am not a person who cares what other people think, I
am Dave, an individual, I am my own entity. So far, this has been, without a doubt, the
best year I had had in my life.