I believe in dressing in what you feel most comfortable in physically and mentally. I am pretty lazy on school days and do not take the time and effort to get ready in the morning. I see it as I am going to school not caring about how people perceive my appearance. However, I dress in a way that will not make people think I don’t care about up-keeping my hygiene, but comfortably. Also, since I am from Hawaii, I dress mainly for warmth. Even though I may not have the most fashionable warm clothes, I do not care. I care about being comfortable and warm first and foremost. On somedays, I do take the time to get myself ready with makeup but under two conditions: I have a lot of time before my class or I am really tired so putting on foundation and powder will hide the enormous bags under my eyes.

I also have my ears pierced. I feel this makes me feel girly when I am able to adorn myself with dangly earrings for special occasions. Wearing earrings makes me feel like I am completing my outfit with a pair of jewelry matching my outfit. I pierced my ears because I wanted to wear earrings to express my love for adorning my ears with jewelry to look and feel pretty.

I have a deep and forever love for my parents. They gave me the bases of all my core values and beliefs in life, which helped mold me into the woman I am today. Even though I have learned through my own experiences and college schooling, I still hold the same core values as I did when I was a little girl. I used to go to church every Wednesday night in high school with my family. I have a gold chain that adorned my neck which represented my religious beliefs. I still wear it from time to time, however not as much as I used to. I was never good remembering to wear jewelry.

In my upbringing, my family taught me humility, humbleness, and the idea that family comes first. My mother always emphasized the way I present myself whether it be at school, a function, or going out with my friends, should be a reflection of my parents. I am the kind of person to represent my parents in the best way possible. I make it a point to make sure the way I dress I would be able for my grandparents to approve. I also dress and present myself in a way that if a friend or family member saw me walking on the street, they would think I am a respectable young woman. My family is a well-respected family by high authority back home, Even when I go out with my friends, I make sure that I dress tastefully yet appropriately that if one of my dad’s business associates were to see out in public, they would not think I was trashy and that I represent one of the best lawyers in Hawai’i. I do not have any tattoos and only ear piercings. I was brought up being taught that tattoos were hazardous to your health as the ink is semi-toxic and the process of getting a tattoo is unsanitary. I always think about when I get older, I prefer to not have any tattoos even though are becoming more socially acceptable.

As I made new friends and created my own life for myself in college, I have changed some of my views but kept majority of my original beliefs with me. I am more accepting of people’s individualism. If they prefer to dress very flashy or revealing, that is up to their own discretion. Through my schooling and classes, I have learned from my professors and my peers that the only person you should worry about caring about yourself is you. Your parents may have a certain opinion as well as your friends, teachers and colleagues. However, you don’t have to listen to what they believe is the correct way. Sure they may have their input but honestly I believe that we have the right to make our own decisions and go about our lives the way we feel is most beneficial to our happiness. If getting a crazy piercing or tattoo makes you happy, then go for it! The people you surround yourself with, they are the good people you believe them to be, should be supporting and accepting of your individualism.

I believe at this day and age, people are starting to care too much about what the social media and society thinks about them. I have noticed an increasingly amount in people getting plastic surgery to create this image of perfection or what they think is perfection. By getting yourself modified is just not something I believe in. I believe in natural beauty and to be happy in your own skin. If you feel you feel the need to modify the way you look because you are trying to be perceived as perfect or an ideal body, that is totally up to you and your judgement. I think people who feel they need to dress and act a certain way to impress other people tend to be slightly insecure. For those individuals who adorn themselves with tattoos, I believe they are doing so because of a fond memory of someone or a specific moment in time that they want to envision and think about every time they look at their body art. Society is starting to become more accepting of tattoos seeing them rather as meaningful art rather than looked down upon.

As I sat down and people watched for a bit, I confirmed my belief that the University of Oregon is a place of mass diversity. I apologize in advance if I may so have happened to describe one of my fellow peers.

The first individual that caught my attention was this caucasian male, looked about six foot two inches, wearing a white t-shirt, khaki pants, black shoes, and duo man buns adorned on his head similar to that of what little asian girl would most likely style her hair. He also had a pair of wrestling shoes attached to his backpack. This trend of the “man bun” has growing exponentially in the past couple of months. He was walking with a steady pace across the EMU quad as he seemed to be in a rush of some sort. His decision in wearing the laid-back outfit caused him to appear as having a chill and casual personality who chooses comfort over style. His choice of hair style makes him appear as though he is confident in himself that he does not mind other people giving him strange looks in a comical fashion as his duo man buns draw an eye or two. The appearance of the wrestling shoes hanging from his strap caused me to assume that he wrestles or wants people to think he wrestles. He seems to be making the statement that he can still match his clothes while being laid-back. In conclusion, he seems like a confident individual who shows an interest in sports with a calm personality. I feel these assumptions could say that I am very observant and tend to look for the good in people. I also think or I’d like to think I draw people with the similar personality of being relaxed and chill as I can only deal with hyper and excited people for so long.

Another individual that I observed was a caucasian female who looked like she was around the same age as me, which is 21. She had bright pink hair, a septum piercing, a couple small tattoos that I could barely make out. She was also wearing maroon Dr. Marten boots, bring tie dye leggings and a black top. As she walked across campus, she took huge gaping steps and had a sort of hunched over posture. By her appearance, it appeared to me that they believe in self-expression and making a fashion statement. I don’t think I would ever have the guts to dye my hair pink unless I lost a bet or was attending a crazy music festival. By the way she walked gave me the idea that she is definitely confident in herself with her and knows what she wants. I believe that people that have the ability to wear whatever they feel comfortable in that may come off to passing bystanders as outrageous or give them the thought of “oh my gosh what is she wearing” are probably the most awesome people if you ever get a chance to meet them. We humans have the innate quality of being timid with our actions as we, or some I should say, do not take criticism light heartedly. We are usually afraid of how we appear to others and what people will think and judge us based on our appearance. I think this individual probably has a great personality and potentially radical ideas by the way she asserts her individualism through her eye catching hair and confident step in her stride.

Lastly, I observed an individual wearing heavy makeup, her hair all dolled up, wearing a flowery dress and sandals. She also wore a large necklace adorned with pearls and stones that was very shiny in the sunlight. Being my cynical self, I initially assumed this individual cared way too much about her appearance by taking the time to put prom worthy makeup on her face for school. She seemed to want people look at her with the daunting necklace draped around her neck. The fact that she felt the need to cake her face up with makeup for school shows that she is hiding her true appearance. On the other hand, maybe she just enjoys putting on makeup or had the time to put makeup on before classes. I’ll admit, I do take extra time to get ready during Spring term but only if I have the time. I believe that forcing yourself to wake up early before your classes in order to get ready for school is ridiculous. This individual caused me to think that she cares a lot about what people think and must put up a front so anyone that sees her will think that she has a perfect complexion and never has bags under her eyes from sleep deprivation of procrastinating on homework. I believe this shows that I am a very down to earth individual who cares to an extent of what people think of me. Honestly on school days I dress similar to the same way I crawled into the bed the previous night because I feel I don’t need to impress people while walking down 13th to PLC.

I believe that if my friends, family, teachers, or significant other cannot accept my natural beauty and personality, then that sounds like a personal problem. I am too confident in my values and beliefs that I don’t need to change the way I appear to others in order for them to enjoy my company. I appreciate the way individuals express their individuality through piercings, tattoos and clothing. However, I feel a sort of sadness when I see those robotic individuals who feel they need to dress certain ways to fit in for societal acceptance.