A student perspective...

Through class discussions and project brainstorming, my perceptions on my own identity and the identity of others have changed. At the beginning of this course I thought about identity solely in terms of race, nationality, gender and sexual orientation. I failed to see that identity could also be based on your social interactions, insecurities or successes, and daily struggles or perceptions. Class discussions and my own thoughts about identity and the identity project have made me open my eyes to all of the different perceptions on identity.

I have also become more aware of the stereotypes and difficult topics to talk about in Clemson. There is a divide among Greeks, international students, different races, religions and geographical regions.  Clemson is consistently ranked high in various polls for “happiest students” and “friendliest campus;” however, the aforementioned issues are definitely prevalent and not talked about. This identity project will allow people to express their identity in terms of “I am _____, but also _____” to break stereotypes, have a safe outlet to discuss issues in their lives or at Clemson, and hopefully connect with someone he/she would have never been able to reach otherwise.

Celebrating this aspect of the project and opening my eyes to different views on identity has created an anticipated anxiety about what my own “I am _____, but also _____” statement is going to be. I want my statement to be profound and enlightening, but I also don’t want to be too revealing to strangers. I am also struggling with the fact that I don’t think I am interesting enough to create a profound statement about my identity. I am not struggling with my race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. I don’t feel like I need to prove my identity in these terms. Because of this I have been thinking about some of my personality traits that might be contradictory or competing. I am a very social person, but I enjoy my alone time as well. I am also very driven and motivated, but I enjoy being lazy some days. These competing traits have helped me work through some of my anxiety with this project, but I don’t feel this are interesting enough and really revealing of my identity.

I keep thinking about the difficult topics prevalent at Clemson and how I fit into this, but am having trouble thinking of a way I do. This struggle and subsequent anxiety has aided in guidance for the project because it has forced me to begin to think critically about issues at Clemson and how I want to identify myself within the Clemson community. I think having the poster up on library bridge, along with the note cards, will help students get ideas about their identity and will definitely help me articulate my identity in terms of “I am _____, but also _____.” I want to be able to celebrate my confidence, successes or values in these terms, but also want to spark meaningful dialogue and relate to another member of the Clemson community.

The biggest source of anxiety during this process is not being interesting enough or being too bland or predictable. I think that once I start seeing others’ responses and talking more about what thoughts come to mind when people see the statement, “I am _____, but also _____,” will help me address my feelings about identity. So for now, I will keep reflecting on how my personality fits into the grand scheme of things at Clemson and hopefully will be able to start piecing together how these traits form my identity. I need to just critically think about all of the thing that make me who I am without worrying about if that makes me an insightful innovator or offers a new, groundbreaking way of thinking.