Defining Identity Essay

The ever-fleeting concept of identity has always been a topic of debate among people. Deciding whether it is better defined a single, concrete identifier of an individual or is it a collection of many things that one can attribute to somebody. Christopher Poole said “Identity is prismatic”. Learning that there is more to a person than simply one facet of them suggests is important to defining “identity”. However, it is simply human nature that we form a generalized image about somebody in our minds despite not knowing them very well. One facet of myself I found to be the strongest and most interesting to explore is my role as a typical student. The image people perceive when they meet me is based on a number of things. I try to avoid being one-dimensional and just act like myself. I feel like once I reveal that I'm in college, a lot of things start adding up. The always sleeping, constant eating out, scheduling plans ahead, working evenings part-time, having fun only on the weekends, and the ever-present tinge of stress I try to keep tucked away. All are typically expected of a college student. I wouldn’t have realized this had a friend …show more content…
Identity is supposed to be free to change. So I was simply growing as a person. It was when my first semester of college started after graduating high school and summer break that I fell into a more niche role as a student. My reasoning for this is because it is such a defining thing. In this day in age, higher education is so heavily emphasized that it’s become one of the major phases in life. It’s when independence is finally given to soon-to-be adults and they go out on their own for the first time. It’s when school work matters and so do the other aspects of adult life. But they’re still young and they want to have fun. It all adds up. That's why students can have such a solid stereotype to them. That's why I am labelled as such and also why I do the things that I do to fit the