Personal Space

Personal space varies between every person, every country, every culture, every belief, and every religion. When I observed what personal space may mean to other students at Barrington High School, I noticed a difference when it came to gender and the opposite sex. When girls talked to their girlfriends, guys talked to their guy friends, couples talking to one another, and guys talking with their girl friend/girls talking with their boy friends, you'd notice a complete difference when it came to personal space for each group. Though not all couples are like this, but I observed this one that would be looking at each other around two inches apart, and were all smiley and kissing each other. There was literally not enough space for them to even look each other in the eyes when they would talk. I noticed whenever girls would talk to their girlfriends, they would sit close enough to each other so nobody else can hear what their talking about. I feel most girls do that so they can talk about their problems, talk about what this person did, talk about how hot this guy is or what her boyfriend got her, etc. Observing the way guys would interact with each other was the most interesting and entertaining because there was no such thing as personal space. The guys would get really close to each other and act like they were a couple, they would throw things at each other, make sexual references about anything anyone said, and would do whatever they could to make each other feel uncomfortable. I wonder if guys do things like that on purpose to make the girls laugh or because they want to get our attention or thats just what they do. Walking around you see a lot of friendships between someone with the opposite sex. I noticed that the conversations that would take place was roughly at a distance of seven to ten inches which is a good distance because your able to look each other in the eyes when you talk, see their reaction to something you said, and have a genuine conversation.

As I was observing what personal space may mean to other people I noticed about myself that personal space isn't much of an issue for me. Though I do like having my space when someone makes me uncomfortable, all in all I'm a friendly person and am totally fine with having conversations with someone five inches away or even thirty inches away. The more closer I am to someone I'm having a conversation with, the more I feel like we both understand each other than we would if we had a conversation further away because it's not easy to lie to someone when your face to face, you feel more sympathy for that person, you hear what they have to say and not what other people are saying, and so on. I defiantly feel more comfortable talking closer to a girl than I would a guy just because I'm a girl, and girls have lots to talk vs. having a close conversation with a guy which can lead up to them taking it the wrong way and trying to do something that puts you in an awkward situation.

Who Am I?

My name is Danielle, I'm currently a senior at Barrington High School and next year I'll be going to college at Colorado State University. The reason why I chose to go to Colorado was because I'm a huge outdoors person and I love the environment there. I've always liked mountain biking, hiking, river rafting, rock climbing, snowboarding, etc. and Colorado gives me that opportunity to do the things I enjoy.

I'm someone who absolutely hates drama so I do as best as I can to avoid it. I'm a friendly person and never judge someone off of their looks or what other people think of them. I can be shy at first, especially if I'm around people I don't know very well, but once I start warming up to I can be very outgoing. I'm a trustworthy person and am someone anyone can talk to about anything.

My parents filed for divorce in the beginning of my freshman year and it wasn't official till the end of first semester my junior year. I didn't do so well in school during that time because I was busy dealing with my parents issues so my younger siblings could have as much of a normal life as possible. Even though the past few years have been rough and overwhelming, my family still means everything to me. Without them and without going through what I went through, I wouldn't be where I am today. I believe everything happens for a reason, and what I dealt with the past few years has made me a stronger person today than I've ever been and helped me learn more about myself and who I am as an individual.

One of my goals in life is to graduate college and go backpacking around Europe or go to Australia for a year to take classes on marine biology. I hope to become a councilor at a rehabilitation center to help those who struggle with their addiction(s) and support their families throughout the process. Life is full of surprises and all I can do now is wait and see what my future has ahead of me.