You-Branding

We do it all the time. We don’t even know it. How we talk, the messages we send, our interactions (or lack of) with friends/foes/strangers. We are constantly building upon an image that we set for ourselves whether we like it or not.

I’ve wrestled with this topic of “you-branding” for the last few weeks now since I’ve been back from co-op. Orientation I guess set it off, mainly due to the fact that I’m witnessing how this year’s incoming freshmen class are embarking on this 4 to 5-year long branding experience. The trends aren’t much different from year to year. There’s the “I’m-too-cool-for-everything” persona and then the super-enthusiastic select few who eat up college life like it’s the next iTouch/iPhone/iWillBuyAnythingApple. These guys are my favorites because they get the slightest kick out of everything. You know who you are. So they’re the cheerleaders of RIT but more power to them. You’re paying $30K a year (or someone is); why not make the most of it? No, this isn’t my extended Orientation Assistant pitch for the freshmen to go join clubs. Just be receptive is all. To new ideas, people, and cultures. Absorb, absorb, absorb BUT reflect. Tweak to differentiate yourself. </preach>

In my fifth year of college, I’m still discovering things that make me appreciate college life and the people we come across along the way. It’s probably one of the most diverse environments in which a person could immerse themselves. Whether it is five minutes of your time that you invest in getting to know someone or five years, all these relationships you build affect you and others in one way or another. I’m sure this one student (a freshman actually!) probably doesn’t remember me sitting in the SAU Fireside Lounge eavesdropping on him playing piano, but I sure as hell will forever associate him with what is likely to be my best homework interruption ever. I listened to him gracefully play song after song on the piano…a conglomerate of classics and contemporary pop songs that I almost barely recognized without their lyrics, all flowing so smoothly into one another. I probably could’ve stayed there all morning.

Point is, you never know who is watching, remembering, analyzing, or what have you. Talented or not.

Although I wish things were sometimes different about my own college experiences, I can only make the best out of what I have left and what I have control over. I’ve entered this final year with a slightly different mindset than those of the past quarters. Instead of just focusing on getting all my degree requirements out of the way, I’m trying to architect my experiences in such a way that I end with a brand of myself that I’m happy with and hopefully, it’ll lead me to a happy post-graduation life. So maybe this includes spreading myself a bit thin with a plate of what was originally 22 credits, but I managed to get my sanity back and am sitting at a now less treacherous 20-credit load. Throw in some 0-credit country line dancing, rock climbing, hip hop dancing, and some wine & food pairing to relieve that stress and I’m golden (for now at least). We’ll see how I fare in Week 9. Be prepared for some major ventage.