I am focused, but also dreaming.

My “I am _____, but also _____” statement took a lot of thought and time to develop. As I mentioned before, I struggled trying to come up with a statement that as interesting and all-inclusive about my personality. After class discussions and talking about my anxiety with friends and classmates, I realized that I did not have to develop a profound statement that was all-telling of my entire personality. I could come up with a statement that represented a part of me. The purpose of this exercise is to break stereotypes and make people feel comfortable talking about difficult topics. If I was worried about what people would think about my statement as an administrator of this project, then that would set me back and the students and Clemson community members we want to get involved.

My “I am _____, but also _____” statement is “I am focused, but also dreaming.” I think of myself as a very focused, driven and determined person who knows what I want. I am a hard worker and very disciplined when it comes to school, my career and what kind of person I want to be. I constantly meditate on ways to become the best person I can be and a better person in general. Even though I know that I want to become better and want to be successful, I still find myself dreaming about what else I could do with my life. As a communication studies major I know I want to work in corporate communications or public relations and have taken the steps in order to achieve these goals; however, I constantly think about taking time off after graduation to travel and do things out of my comfort zone. Or, I daydream thinking what it would be like to be a teacher, graphic designer or interior designer. I love what I do and what I will be able to do in the future because of my education and experiences, but I always leave room for other opportunities to come along or to fantasize about other things I am interested in. I think this statement is a good depiction of one aspect of my identity. Once I got over the anxiety of creating an interesting, deep, ultimate thought provoking statement, I was able to observe aspects of my own identity and articulate one in an accurate way.

Students and other members of the Clemson community were able to create great “I am _____, but also _____” statements as well. While reading some of the statements that were t-shirt and banner worthy, our class noticed several trends. The most prominent trend was religion, followed by race and geography. I expected these trends in Clemson, and am glad that students realize these topics are not talked about often in this community. There are several stereotypes in the Clemson community that are worthy of discussion and dialogue. Next week is our second library bridge event where we will be showcasing our identity clothesline, banner and accepting more “I am _____, but also _____” notecards. I am interested to see the reactions of students as they observe the t-shirts on the clothesline. I hope this will begin discussion and reflection that will be beneficial during our culmination dialogue event at the end of the month.