WHO AM I? An Existential Reflection
I was born a girl. That was the first classification given to me. Before I could form a thought of my own, society had already formed one for me. Biology slowly became biography. As I grew, I was never introduced as a soul, only as a relation. Someone’s daughter. Someone’s sister. Someone’s granddaughter. My existence seemed to function as an extension of others. I was not seen as an origin, but as a connection. School did not ask who I was either. It described me instead. The brown girl. The overweight one. The quiet one with long hair. My body became a definition. My appearance became a language people used to understand me. No one asked what dreams lived inside me. In college, my identity shifted again. I was known by where I came from, what I wore, and who I spent time with. I was judged by my background and my clothes. Society rarely sees the individual first. It sees context. Work replaced my name with a designation. My value became measurable and productive. I was evaluate...