As I sat at the table writing my cover letter to hand to a search committee that could ultimately change my life forever, I typed the word ,”transparency.” I was stuck on the word, wondering if I have truly been transparent in my life. (I haven’t)

With the societal pressures building up, it is almost impossible to stay completely transparent. Transparency is why I continued writing pieces for this blog that was a mere assignment in the never-ending folder of assignments that I completed for my degree. Transparency is a theory that people are able to present themselves, their true selves to the world and become immediately accepted, which isn’t at all how it works.

Anyway, transparency is why I continue to write. I feel as though it has affected my career path as well. In case you didn’t know I would like to enter the world of higher education and advise students on what they should do with the rest of their life. I’ve only gained the confidence to do these things because I’ve presented my complete self to students and professors at the collegiate level and been successfully pushed on to the professional world. Many times though, I don’t understand how we expect young people to present their transparent selves to the public, for everyone to see, if people don’t even accept them anyway.

There are too many people in the world to do anything other than deal with it. That is the way it is, that is the way it will be. I like to think we are on the verge of a more accepting society, but yet the recent presidential election tells me otherwise. Either way, I am shooting for transparency. I can deal with the backhanded complements and societal-pressure-driven criticism much better than other people can.

As long as I keep my sanity, I’ll be keeping my transparency.