Journey to Be Oneself - Admission/Application Essay Example

Father Lawton had said that “journey to be oneself” is the riskiest, it is because the greatest enemy that one could have is his own self. Freud’s words to one of his letters to his colleagues were, “… the chief patient I am preoccupied with is myself… The analysis is more difficult than any other. It is, in fact what paralyzes my psychic strength.” (qtd. in Feist 20) Even Freud, a great psychologist, found himself as the most difficult patient he has ever had. He understood cases of different patients he had, but when it came to himself, he found the greatest challenge he’ll ever find of his life.

Why is the journey to be oneself the riskiest? That is because in our life’s journey, many trials and struggles will come our way. Some would cause us pain. Some would leave our hearts broken. Some would bring us harm. Some would test our patience. Some would assess our strength. And some would bring us happiness. But in this whole journey, we risk breaking our hearts and breaking ourselves in the process of becoming who we are. We risk hurting ourselves. We risk our “self”. Of all challenges that I faced and will be facing, I know each one of them has a story and a lesson to impart to me.

Every single one of them is what molded me to what I have become now. I believe in the saying that, “the only constant thing in this world is change”. It doesn’t apply only to things but to me as well. And all challenges that I surpassed change the “self” that I once was. In my life’s journey, a new road will always open for me. I won’t be able to see what obstacles I will find with this road. But I know this road will only help me to become “me”. And although I always have my family and friends’ advice, at the end of the day only I can decide for my life.

Only I can decide which road to take for my journey. And now that I am going to college, I know I’ll face greater challenges. To every road, there will always be bumps, detours and stop signs. There are some challenges that might break our hearts and we may see the big red sign, “STOP”. But life doesn’t end in a stop sign that is why there is what we call a “U-turn”. All you have to do is go back and pick up the pieces again. For life doesn’t end it simply goes on. At times, we find ourselves our own enemy of becoming who we really are capable of becoming.

We underestimate ourselves, we underestimate our potentials. Instead of becoming a person greater than who are, we undermine our potentials and chose to stay where we originally were. We become afraid to take a step to get to where we really want to go. We get afraid to be clueless that’s why we tread the road that most people had already gone to. We are afraid to be labeled radical so we don’t think outside of the box. We are always afraid and always thinking of what others may say. We let other people dictate our limitations when in fact; we can become greater than the “self” that others are telling us.

In the real world, it will only be you that will really matter. Only you can decide for yourself. It is not called “your life’s journey” for nothing. “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” – Invictus by William Henley Works Cited Feist, Jess, and Greggory J. Feist. Theories of Personality. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.