Humans logo

Tell Me About Yourself

The Dear All Series

By AsmaaPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
Like

Dear All,

Ask me about my primary school best friend. Jet-black hair that never went past her shoulders for the 4 years of school we had together, made a whole game out of our pouches' contents and water bottles, had an accident on our 3rd grade class photo day, and lost touch with me around 2 years ago. Ask me about myself though, and well, you'll have to wait a couple of minutes for the answer. Maybe longer.

It's a lot like sifting through my memory with large labels for each folder of information, and once I reach the one with 'introducing myself ', I'm looking at a clean slate. I can't figure out why it's so incredibly hard to tell people about myself. A few days ago I had to go through the process I described above in one of my first interviews ever (still waiting on them). Despite knowing a couple of hours prior to the interview, no, even a couple of seconds before I sit on the chair before the interviewers, that I will be faced with giving out an answer to that question, I still didn't give them the answer that would have felt correct. A little too dramatic?

Tell me about yourself, then.

Let's see how easy this is for you. If you are anything like me and it has given you this uneasiness and confusion, congrats! You've won a point for probably giving out almost the same generic answer that everyone gives when they have no idea who they are. Fill in the blanks with what you're commonly associated with: "My name is _____. I'm _____ years old. I like to _______ and _____ and sometimes ________." If you're a little more interesting and accomplished than me, add in a bit of: "I worked as a ______./I have participated in ________." The list goes on, of course, with millions of variations all tinted with the same generic tone.

With a little research on the internet, I found out that it is an actual problem that websites 'coach' people for. Some of the titles I caught running through the search results included: 'How to introduce yourself in any situation ', 'How your kids can introduce themselves ', '7 great ways you can make an unforgettable introduction '. Now, I did go through one of the many links, and while the key points were useful, the question still lingers: what defines a good introduction?

Personally, a reason why I find it hard to give any kind of introduction is that I can't determine what exactly would define me to a human being who knows barely anything about me( apart from my full name, and age for starters) that does not sound pretentious or is dishonest. What effect does stating that I 'paint in my free time ' create? If we're all honest with ourselves, I don't think we would pick a hobby that we practice almost once every couple of months as the character trait we want to give out to a new person. What about job interviews? Does having worked at three different companies as a back-end developer make a person eligible despite dealing with severe health issues from it all? Is having prior experience as a team leader enough for them to define me as a person despite getting terrible panic attacks through the whole process and hiding them well?

I am obviously not suggesting that I should go around telling people of my traumas and troubles as a way to give them a little card of information about me. What I find challenging to decide though, is the picking of the kind of information I should be giving out. How many of these little facts that you hand in at an interview or on the first day on university campus are really true? Do you think if we were a little more open about ourselves, a little more accepting of admitting things about ourselves that would give the person in front of each of us a better background of who we are as humans, it would be so much easier for a mutual understanding to take place?

"I am ______. I've been struggling to paint for almost a year now, but I still consider myself an artist nevertheless due to my interest in the world of paintings."

"I am______. I have been a team leader for most of the teams in my community's clubs, but it does take a toll on my mental health so I think I'll do better as a team member."

It always crosses my mind, how things would be simpler if we understood each other's strengths and weaknesses, and slowed down with the constant, and the GOD-so-never-ending judgement of the person trying to give us a little piece of themselves for starters.

I don't think introductions should be treated like starters before a three-course meal at a restaurant. There's so much more to a human than the first few sentences they think of (and sometimes rehearse) when they talk to you or me for the first time.

So, until the next time we are met with this question, tell me about yourself a little now. Who are you today?

Yours Lovingly,

Asmaa.

advice
Like

About the Creator

Asmaa

im just testing this out, seeing where it takes me.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.