Georgie Jessop by Isla Huffadine

Last Word

Georgie Jessop

Who do you want to be not what do you want to be.

What are you going to do next year? Is a question commonly asked by just about everyone you know when you're in year 13. And for a lot of you I'm sure you would have had this question too.

At the start of this year I had a little meltdown about what I was going to do next year, if I was going to study or travel or do something a little different. I got so caught up in what I wanted to do, where it would take me and what kind of job I could get. That I forgot what life is really about. So I went to someone who helps me with everything. They gave me a piece of advice that I now live by. They said to me “Georgie you don't need to worry about what you're going to do just yet. Don't think about what you want to do, think about who you want to be.”

This really stuck with me and I began to think about who I wanted to be, what I could do or where I could go or who I could be around that could help me get there. And focused less on what job I wanted to do or what I wanted to study. Now this doesn't mean I don't like the person I am now, I do love the person I am today but I'm a big believer in self improvement, always working on who we are and how we can be the best version of ourselves. Being the best version of you doesn't only make you happy but it makes you a better person for others to be around.

It's easy for us to just sit in the background and play along with everything everyone else does. Everyone does it sometimes. I have definitely been guilty of doing things just because my friends or the people around me are doing them. It's Human Nature to want to be like and to want to do things that your friends do so that they will like you and you'll feel accepted. But it's really important that we always think about what's important to us as a person and if doing what everyone else does is really the best for us. We should focus on doing the things that help shape us into who we want to be not what we want to do.

I used to care a lot about what people thought of me and everything I did, I always wanted to be accepted and to be liked by people so I did everything that everyone else did just to please others. But throughout the years as I've been at this school I've met some very inspiring people. My mind has been opened up to new ideas, new ways of living, different ways to find who I am. I finally found the things that make me happy, things I love to do and the people that make me happy. These people have helped me find WHO I want to be. And some of these things that shape me into the person I want to be might be bit different and not everyone likes the same things as me or they might think I'm a little weird.

Other people might judge us for the things we like to do just because its not what's “normal” but I've realised that that's actually okay. We shouldn't expect everyone to understand or be interested in the same things as we are. So at the end of the day doesn't matter if others don't like the things we like or how we do things in life, if you like it and it makes you happy then that's really all that matters.

So I encourage you to be you, do what you want to do, be weird, be different, follow your own path in life, Surround yourself with the people who make you happy. So, when we go into the Big Wide World remember it's not about what you want to do it's about who you want to be.

Georgie Jessop