Are you still unsure of who you are or what you want to be? Do you feel like you’re lost in life? You’re not the only one! As a graduating college student, I admit that I’m still uncertain of who I want to be and the pressure gets higher with each passing semester.
The timely event I attended last October 12 at UP Diliman dealt with my dilemma by tackling the question “How to be ME po?”. The theme was on gaining enough inner confidence to be able to discover one’s true self, especially in a world where the youth compare their success and happiness with those of the social media famous.
Whoa there, this started pretty serious! Let’s lighten the mood a bit with two easy mnemonic devices to remember proposed by some of the confident speakers from UP Tourism Management Society’s “How to be ME po?” talk.
Mnemonic Devices College Students Should Remember When Feeling Lost in Life
Bea Benedicto, TV and Events Host and horror vlogger, gave #LikeATita advice to college students on discovering who “Me” is while in college.
1. TITA
T- Try. Start early in figuring out your interests/strengths. Joining groups and school organizations with the same interests as you may help with the discovery. Also try to take extra classes if you can handle more units.
I- Improve. Push mo yan ‘te! Adapt the “Suck it up because life ain’t easy” mentality to make yourself better. Keep practicing, put in the work, and you’ll eventually grow.
T- Trust. Don’t rely on others because you’re a strong, resilient human being! You’re like a strong bamboo branch with fat pandas (challenges) hanging on it.  Just be yourself and be confident even if you have to fake it. You got dis!!
A- Aspire. Never stop dreaming and allow inspiration to take you places. Don’t stop believing (hold on to that feeling~)
The comical Bea emphasized the urgency of building yourself early on for the ‘self’ want to be. It’s not okay to just set a goal without doing anything about it. When trying to reach that goal, remind yourself why you do what you do.
Celina Sol Cruz and Ssiala Azores, travel bloggers of Yourlocalocals.com, shared how travel helped them feel more alive with their aptly named mnemonic device:
2. LOCAL
L-Â Lost?
O- Okay lang! You’re not alone. Another lost soul is just wandering around. If you can find your lost soul-mate, get lost together and do amazing things!
C- Check! Misadventures that cause you to feel alone happen for a reason. Notice the good and bad signs as little check marks that will eventually lead you to that one thing you really want to do, whatever that may be.
A- Aha moment! Anuna? So you’ve found your hobby/ passion. Get serious and stop stalling. Figure out action steps to reach your goal for realz!
L- Lead me Lord! The duo left everything to God. But do that after putting in all the works and exerting all your  efforts into what you’re passionate about. In their case, their travel website.
Basically, life is like travelling. You plan and prepare, like for a road trip. You’ll have to equip yourselves with the things you learned from school to go on the journey called life. Detours or mishaps may come up and it’s up to you if you will either allow them to ruin your trip or mark them as learning experiences. After everything, your reward is the destination/goal and the beautiful memories you will create.
If you find yourself stuck or wanting to get to the point when you ask yourselves “How to be ME?” not of cocky self-absorption but of healthy inner confidence, try to break routine/monotony with new experiences.
For you to be able to be confident and good at what you do, you need to take that first step to actually do it. Misadventures and mistakes will also get you to that point where you’re sure enough of what you’re doing to be able to share it with others.
The next time uncertainty haunts you, remember that it’s perfectly normal.
More photos from the event:
Ana Victorino, makeup artist and Youtube beauty guru, also delivered her talk on becoming your dream self. You have to know what you want, believe in that, and achieve it even when all else fails.
Sherie Claire Ponce, UP professor and former Radio Jock, talked about her public speaking experiences and taught the participants some tips and tricks on the importance of confidence in that field.
Some of the attendees with Bea and Ana.
The UP Tourism Management Society (Facebook.com/UPTourismManagementSociety)  is an academic organization based in the UP Asian Institute of Tourism. The student org holds tourism-oriented quiz bees, seminars for students, and Alternative Classroom Learning Experiences (ACLEs) like “How to be Me po?” every semester.
