i·den·ti·ty

/ˌīˈden(t)ədē/

noun

  1. the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.

Every year that I was in elementary school, I would cut my hair to my shoulders: my classmates used to call me Dora! As soon as I got into high school, I decided I was going to stop cutting my hair and see what happened. Well..I ended up going my entire 4 years of high school without cutting my hair.  This was the result!

Aubrey with long hair and a bouquet of beautiful flowers

The longest that my hair ever got was down to my knees. Crazy, right?! I realized that my hair was something that I took great pride in. It was even something that I used to identify myself with. Everyone knew me as “the girl with long hair”. My nickname went from being Dora to Pocahontas. What a dream!

It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I realized just how much of my identity I associated with my hair. I had a moment where I considered chopping it all off, but the one thing that made me so sad was that no one would be able to call me Pocahontas anymore. It was then that I wondered why I was letting the value of who I am be put into the hairs on my head.

So, I made a move.

Aubrey with short hair by a white wall

Because first and foremost, my identity is in the One who made me. And gosh did it feel freeing! Not to mention I am now saving so much money on shampoo and conditioner—it’s ridiculous.

And I’ll be honest, I am still constantly reminding myself of that truth. The truth that my identity is not in where I work, what I do, or who I know. But as a daughter of the King and as a participant in the Kingdom. So, dear prospective students--I hope this little post can be an encouragement for you in grounding yourself in who you are.

All the love! ‘Til next blog,

Aubs