This past weekend, I was lucky enough to go home. I am from Chicago, so going home isn’t as easy as it is for most Bucknell students, as our demographic is made up of students from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
At home, I found myself sitting on the subway. At first the cart was empty, however, as I got closer to the loop, the car began to fill up. At each stop a new group of people piled in. I was almost taken back by the diversity in people’s style. I had not realized that I had been away from the city for so long that I had forgotten what “expressing yourself” looked like. At school, I feel that I must conform to what the typical Bucknell student should look like: simple makeup, skinny, lowkey outfits, etc. Naturally, I do not have crazy style, but I also don’t feel confident to express myself with elaborate makeup or accent pieces if I wanted to. I feel that can be attributed to the Bucknell bubble and the desire to conform to fit in.
I feel like this is something we must change at Bucknell, especially being at a liberal arts college. College is a time to experiment and discover who you really are, so I would like to create an environment that stimulates it. I think the only real way to do this is to change the culture of Bucknell, but that is a very hard thing to overcome. At this point, the best I can do is try to gain the confidence to express myself and encourage my friends to do the same.
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