What I learned from a friend – I am arrogant.

This is my contribution to Robert Hruzek’s, What I Learned from… group writing project for this month.

I started college as a very humble person. I made better grades than everyone else but I was humble enough to realize that I was not smarter – I just tried harder, in other words I was not lazy like everyone else. I was also humble enough to eat lunch with the outcasts, unlike the arrogant jocks and well-connected snobs. I knew that I could be popular and hang out with the cool crowd, but I was better than that. I chose to be humble and hang with the low-life. Yes, there were many proofs of my humility.

I was humble and proud of it.

My sophomore year, an older friend was kind enough to point out my hypocrisy. At first, the idea of me being arrogant seemed ridiculous. I arrogantly dismissed the possibility, but after a while I started to wonder what could make people think I was arrogant. Things are often not what they seem. I was quite sure that I was very humble, but the people around me were not smart enough to see that. I decided that I would have to work on impressions a bit more.

So, I talked with this friend a bit more. I asked him what specific actions were being perceived as arrogant. He mentioned a few, and then a few more, and then a few more. It was a painful conversation, but I am proud to say that I listened and learned. I changed my behavior immediately and now I am seldom perceived as arrogant. I like my new self, I am a much better person than I was. I would say now that I have become truly humble, I am pretty much perfect.

Related posts:

1. Blog Therapy: Talking About My Feelings
2. Humility: A necessary catalyst to learning?
3. What I Learned from a Cat
4. What I Learned From Not Having a Nintendo
5. Getting started with Blogging