The Unseen Backstory

The one advantage to moving frequently is that you have the opportunity to recreate your image and your reputation. Coming to college presented this opportunity to me and it was one I welcomed, in many ways eager to start over. However, I quickly learned that you can't escape your past - it's a part of who you are and it follows you wherever you move. Also, I remembered that who you are right now is the result of your past, not your past itself. In that way, the people you meet now only know half the picture - the part of you that shows itself now. They don't see the "back-story," the path you took to get where you are. These are lessons I have had to learn and remember since coming to college. I especially had to remember that people may not understand why I act in certain ways, why some things are harder for me, or why I am sensitive to certain issues more than others, because they do not know where I've come from. They just see who I am right now. It's easy to misunderstand a person when you just take them at surface-level and don't try to understand everything that turned them into who they are. Though it is impossible to know everything about a person's past, since you weren't there, it is important to consider that there was something more than you can see now.

People think you're strong, but they never saw you when you were weak. People think you're whole, but they never saw you broken. People think you have it easy, but they never saw you when it was hard. People don't always know you. People don't define you.