Sierra’s side of things: Waving hello to the real you

By Sierra Barrios
Managing Editor

When I was in fifth grade, people told me to work hard. When I was in seventh grade, people told me to make a difference in the world. In high school, they told me that getting into college would make me happy later in life, but no one told me what happiness was.

In my AP Lang class, we read an article called “The Case for Working With Your Hand” about a man who went to college and got an office job that he later quit to become a mechanic. He found peace and gratification in the physical labor, and he saw how unhappy many others were with their nine to five office work. It was then that I truly asked myself: what was going to make me truly happy?

I’d pushed myself to the limit in every way: I joined the cabinets of all my clubs, and I signed up for as many AP’s as I could. Over quarantine, I would go days hardly eating, barely sleeping and isolating myself from my friends and family. It wasn’t until I hit rock bottom that I realized I had begun to detach from reality. I looked in the mirror and I didn’t recognize the face staring back at me as I drowned in the chaos and confusion of not knowing who I was. 

Today’s society tells us to work hard in school and go to college. But what does any of that have to do with what we truly want? I was a victim of the droning voice of society, which screamed at me to be more, to do more, if I ever wanted to be worth anything. 

Academic and financial success don’t define one’s worth. Society fabricates this illusion that a degree translates to success, and success translates to happiness; which is a flat out lie. Classist stereotypes of white collar versus blue collar workers enforce this idea that higher paying jobs are the most beneficial, but choosing a life defined by monetary value is the quickest path to soul-crushing self destruction. People have different interests, different dreams than what fits into the little box of so-called safe college majors. Sometimes people want to travel, write stories or work as a waitress so they can meet interesting people. There is no shame in doing what makes you happy, even if the world looks at you differently. 

I know now that it’s okay to dye my hair purple. It’s okay to not be okay and to show it. I’m still learning who I really am, and I still don’t know if what I say I need is what I truly want. However, I know now that I have the power to discover that for myself, no matter what society has to say.