The Power of Privacy

I’ve dealt with many things in my life, just like everyone around me. I have been altered by these events and I often define myself by things that have happened to me. Though it is cliché, I am more than what I’ve gone through, and I really do not want people to create an idea of what kind of person I am solely based on these moments. It is often easier not to share memories, because it allows me to be my own person, instead of a person who is stereotyped by what has happened to them. I believe in using privacy to be my own person. 

My first day at Saints, I was extremely nervous. It sounds pretty typical, but middle school really had not been easy for me. I think it’s like that for a lot of people. Going to a new school allowed me to break out of the shell I had made for myself-an awkward, shy, and unconfident person. Anyway, during my first days, people often shared their eighth grade memories, and I found myself keeping my mouth shut. Everyone was making friends, and connecting with people because of things that had happened in their life, like playing the same sport, or seeing the same band in concert. I remember all the getting to know you games we played. I was so uncomfortable, going around to random strangers and telling about them myself. Why would I share my memories, which sometimes weren’t very positive, with people I barely knew? For once, I wasn’t being shy; instead, I was choosing to keep quiet about the past me so I could actually be the new me.  

I realized that being private wasn’t really a bad thing. Instead, it gave me the chance to decide who I really wanted to share intimate information with. Why would I want to share personal stuff with people I’m not really personal with? I think this has affected me in both a positive and negative way. Because I was private about my memories, nobody made judgements on who I was as a freshman based on who I was as an eighth grader, and I was able to make relationships based on new experiences, not old ones. So in a positive way, I met the friends that I am really close to now. In a negative way, I probably missed out on some relationships because of my privacy towards myself. But I don’t really regret this-I value my privacy and will not give it up in the future easily for a person I may or may not end up trusting.  

I think a lot of people can find value in privacy. It gave me confidence, because if so few people were privy to my personal memories, then the majority of people could not judge me on who I used to be. I think privacy made me more confident, which sounds ironic. Private people are seen as closed off and quiet, but I think privacy allowed me to open up. I didn’t have to share my thoughts and feelings like everyone around me seemed to do growing up. I was able to talk, without having to sacrifice my privacy.