Our society constantly classifies and labels. You are a boy. You are an
adolescent. You have light brown hair. You are a student. You are an athlete.
You are a Christian. You are whatever the world may label you as being.
I've just given you some of the subgroups that you might consider me to
belong to or label as being a part of my identity. It is so intriguing that we,
as humans, are so keen to labeling people and putting them into groups. It is
more interesting when those groups collide or conflict.
In high school, I considered myself to be a pretty well-rounded
student. I tried to be involved in every event and organization I possibly
could. I've tried to continue this into college (with some narrowing) and still
find my labels conflicting at times. Whether it be through commitments in
tennis taking me away from other commitments with choir, or vice versa; or
social norms clashing with my own beliefs and values; or even one service
opportunity compared to another; my relationships with others are altered
through where I choose to place my time and efforts. At times, it may seem like
a balancing act to maintain such an act without toppling over, but it is most
important to remember that just because the world may classify us by such
labels it does not make us who we are.
It is our responsibility to remain steadfast in our identity - to
remain unshaken by the categories into which others may pigeonhole us. We are,
in fact, not determined by whatever the world may label us into being as I
stated earlier; but we are whatever we may choose so long as we stay true.
