Erin Cochran/Winonan

I believe that you can best learn about and from people is to get a sneak peek into their own personal thoughts mainly through journals.

I never thought about keeping a journal until this year.

I want to leave behind something for my future children to have of me, be able to know what life experiences I had and what I cared about, what I didn’t, what were the values of my time and what my personal thoughts were.

I always used to think that journals were just for teenage girls to rant about small, first world problems.

It might have used to be just like that.  I can only imagine what I would have written at the age of 16.  I also drew some random doodles and it would be so cool if one day one of my kids went and got a tattoo of one of my random drawings.

A friend of mine recently posted a link to the top 19 things to stop doing in your 20’s.

I read this and it completely changed my outlook on what I was doing with my life, what my values are and the things I should and shouldn’t be worrying over.

The top three that really spoke to me were: “stop being lazy by being constantly “busy,” “stop identifying yourself as a cliche and start treating yourself as an individual,” and “stop seeking approval so hard.”

The always being busy is totally something I can relate to. I always feel so busy.  It’s my own doing, I know, but don’t get my wrong, one of my favorite things is not having anything on the agenda for the day and having the ability to make my own choices as to where the day takes me.

When my presence isn’t needed for a group meeting, a dance rehearsal, work, sorority event, volunteering or just doing homework; that’s what I live for.

When one is too “busy” laziness comes so naturally. My care for anything other than my commitments goes straight down the tubes.

That includes laundry, cooking for myself, keeping a neat room, etc. This busyness makes me feel like it’s a burden to do simple life tasks.

I now know and understand it’s time to take care of the things that truly need to be taken care of, without complaint, and still find time to relax and take personal care of necessary tasks.

The next item that I really connected with was “stop identifying yourself as a cliche and start treating you as an individual.”

There are so many sub-cultures that I could label myself within and or put my self into little boxes that completely identify me.

Examples are: sorority girl, dancer, cheerleader, gymnast, Vikings fan, Twins fan, writer, artist, semi-hippie, eldest in my family and shopaholic.

All of these characteristics help define who I am as an individual but don’t limit myself to what I can enjoy, what my values are or who I am according to those activities and labels.

In high school, when I was in cheerleading, I was labeled as dumb, uneducated, annoying and loud – all the ideas people have in their mind about cheerleaders because those are all characteristics within the cheerleader stereotype.

Don’t even get me started on the sorority girl stereotype. You think that in college people wouldn’t work so hard at defining labels and misconceptions of what being in a sorority entails but alas times haven’t changed.

Movies, misconceptions, actions of a few bad seeds and the refusal of some to look more into what sorority life really entails have tarnished the image of organizations that greatly improves ones’ networking and leadership skills, community involvement, dedication and working as a whole to improve campus, community and national relations.

I know now that I will never let someone stereotype me for anything that I’m involved in because I know the real me and though all of those extra circulars and characteristics have shaped me, they don’t singularly define me.

The next point of things is one should stop doing in their 20’s and that is to not “seek approval so hard.”

I used to care SO MUCH about what others thought about me. It was almost to the point where I would disregard my own thoughts and feelings and appease people and try to fit in not matter what.

This meant I would spend money on clothes I didn’t necessarily like only because of the label is displayed, letting people step over what I believe and let them make me believe that no matter what they were right and I was wrong and I allowed people to poke fun at characteristics that make me who I am rather than just accepting who I was as a person.

As I’m completely embedded in my final semester here at Winona State University and counting down the days until graduation, it feels so great to be able to embrace who I am as a full fledged adult and not care what anyone thinks of me.

Contact Erin at [email protected]