I believe ingenuity is one of the most valuable and precious things to not only have but to also preserve. Throughout my life thus far, there have been situations when you feel out of place or pressured to be someone you’re not. Ingenuity is who you are, not who you may try to be. Ingenuity is about self-acceptance and blocking out anyone that decides you aren’t good enough. It just requires you to be good enough for you.
This value was instilled in me from a very young age. I grew up an only child, without any siblings to help me along. My parents, while great people and great resources, are both psychologists with Ph.D’s, making it less than enticing to discuss some things with them given that I’d almost feel like a patient rather than just their son.
A great example of this was my experience at sleep away camp. I was pressured into going out of my comfort zone, which was fine by me, but sometimes, I was asked to do things that I had zero interest in doing. People sometimes pressure you to do things you don’t want to do. That doesn’t mean you absolutely have to do it. I passed on joining in with the “cool kids” and did things my own way. I may not have been the coolest kid at camp but I had fun, made friends, and turned out just fine while just being myself.
If you have siblings, you may not have realized or noticed but regardless of whether you are close with them, they helped shape who you are. My situation was more of a learning experience off of friends and people that I met along the way.
I have plenty of friends, don’t worry. I’m also a fraternity brother of Zeta Beta Tau here at Penn State. Being creative and inventive doesn’t require you to sacrifice things about yourself that you don’t want to lose. Adapt isn’t necessarily synonymous with diverge. I’ve grown and changed during the twenty years of life, I just haven’t changed for any other reason than my free will and my free will alone.
Although I’ve picked up numerous values and character traits along the way through this learning experience, ingenuity came to the forefront long ago. I’ve always been myself, regardless of whether or not jealousy sets in time and time again. If I felt uncomfortable, I may choose to stay uncomfortable rather than to change myself. Being in my own skin has to be above all else, regardless of how others feel when they look at me.
I am me, not you, not anyone else.
I believe in ingenuity.