As a young adult in school, I experienced a lot of situations where it was clear some people only saw my outside appearances and didn’t care to look any further into who I actually was as a person. A few examples include my high school counselor telling me I would not get a full ride to college after I expressed to her this was one of my goals, people assuming I was going to summer school because I was behind on credits when I was actually planning to graduate early, and lots of students believing I was rude because of my naturally serious face combined with being exhausted from working, going to school, leading a club I was president of, and trying to start my business all at the same time. You may chalk these situations up to simply people making “mistakes” and I would agree with you to a certain extent. They mistook me for someone that I wasn’t. However, this “mistake” happened too often.
It wasn’t until the end of my schooling when I identified what was happening and learned what preconceptions were. This new information made me feel like my brain escaped the shackles of tying together people’s preconceptions with who I actually was.
Painting creepy faces were and still is my outlet for expressing my feelings of wanting to challenge preconceptions. The importance of challenging them is not only to send the message that there is more to a person than just their appearance but also to stress the idea that their preconceived thought of us should not become how we view ourselves. It does not define us. I believe genuinely knowing who you are as a person can improve your self-image and help create a more positive mindset.
I hope these creepy faces that I create can help you challenge the preconceptions in your life and be a guide to improving your self-image. Thank you for reading! As always, stay healthy and wash your hands!
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