Over what one year period of your life did you grow the most as a person. (And I don't want any jokes about physical growth. You know what I mean.)

The answers (in order recieved):

  • I have no idea. I'll say.. the last year, but it probably isn't right. Who knows.

  • Well, it had to be the year I dated Jennifer. I learned a lot about manipulation and the such. I learned to be more assertive and not let people walk all over me.

  • The last year. I've gotten much more cynical, bitter, and depressed. But more than usual. Now, I am much more frequently less idealistic and more cautious about the world and about how much difference one person can actually make. I think that I've been constant in the same level of "maturity" (and I consider myself mature) but I feel much older lately. Not good for a 20 year old.

  • From Sept. of '95, and it's still going on. It's taken me a while to get things figured out for myself, but I'm getting there! We didn't have to tell you why, did we? Didn't look like it, but I'm just checking.

  • I really can't say which period was the most significant. Actually, if the rules allowed, I'd say a fairly important time was the year-and- change period from July 15, 1995, up to now. A lot has happened since then, including nearly killing myself (yes, accidentally) and losing a good friend to AIDS. Even though in the most important ways I'm the same person I was a year ago, this "same person" has also come to a lot of significant understandings.

  • Freshman year at U of M, of course. Back in high school I was never happy with who I was, and constantly felt alone and useless. Then I just accepted myself and things got much better.

  • from last summer to this summer.

  • Hmmm...I guess the past 4 years, in high school...not that high school was what helped me grow, but all the interesting experiences. Especially being really involved in stuff, like music. And my recent trips abroad, whereas when I was little, I wasn't mature enough to really appreciate places in Europe & Asia. I've really gotten more in touch with my identity the last 4 years.

  • Not this year, that's for sure. With my parents giving me shit about EVERYTHING lately, life just sucks!

  • Freshman year. Oh, the social skills I learned after discovering the wonders of the internet for the first time. This mainly applies to e-mail where after a year and losing quite a few friends, here at the U and from high school because I wrote everything that was on my mind to anyone since I was shy. I have learned that being shy is OK and that not saying something and regretting it is better than saying too much of something and regretting it. Of course, that's not even half the story I of what I learned. Ther's just too much to say about it.

  • I would have to say it is a tie between two consecutive years, and it's possible I pick these years because they are the most fresh in my mind. First, I would say my senior year of high school. This year I learned that you don't always get what you want, or even what you deserve. I guess I always knew this, but it was proven to me in big ways that year. I think learning that allowed me to really grow in my freshmen year of college. If I'd hadn't learned those lessons when I did, I don't know how well I would've survived my first year away.

  • I would have to say from last June to this June. I learned a lot about me as a person, both physically and mentally. I learned to rely on myself, and to have a bit of confidence about me. I also managed to fall head-over-heels on love, and have it work out. Not bad for twelve months.

  • I think once I reached the ripe ol' age of 18 did I do most of my maturing. I lost some of my naivete and I stopped being quite so gullable about certain things (not that I'm not gullable now) and I think my eyes have been opened on how to read people. I've learned some valuable lessons.

  • I don't know. I can't really evaluate these things until a signicant block of time has passed. Maybe my first year at college, a small liberal arts college....but I'm not sure I'm grown-up enough even now to know when I've grown as a person.

  • I would say 1995 was probably my best year in terms of personal growth, and probably the worst year in terms of enjoying myself. I discovered early on that I didn't like my career path, and that I needed change, and I was able to get a much better idea of the kinds of things that I feel are important to me. That year harbored much in terms of personal and professional adversity for me and I do feel the better for it.

    My answer:

    I was going to say the past year. Then I realised that since everybody was saying that, it probably ment that it was just the freshest in my memory. So I'll go with 5th grade. That's when I learned that I was actually capable of complex thought, and that adults weren't always right just because they were older. I also learned how to stop throwing temper tantrums over everything, and to accept that some people were just morons.
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