Take control of your image, rather than letting society define your identity.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a great example of reinvention. He was a bodybuilder from Austria who moved to Venice, California, then became a real estate investor, before starting an acting career. After everyone knew him as an action star in Hollywood, he surprised them all by becoming the governor of California. So many other actors or musicians are only famous for one thing, and then later become obsolete as trends change and people move on.

It used to be that people could move or change social groups if they wanted a fresh start. They may have gotten in trouble or done something embarrassing, or simply wanted to be a different version of themselves. Now everyone's past follows them on the internet. Our lives are being expressed more and more online. In the future, we will be creating and reinventing our identities on the metaverse. So knowing how to curate ourselves online will be an important skill to have.

College is a time for reinvention. I realized this because other students at my college went to the same high school as me. I knew them as one way in high school but later saw them take on a different persona.

One person that surprised me was my roommate. In high school, we hung around the same circles and I knew D as fun-loving and laid back. My roommate was raised by strict parents so now it was time to wild out. I, on the other hand, partied a lot in high school and decided to go in the opposite direction. I became a gym rat, studied a lot, and was the designated driver when my friends wanted to go to parties.

Just when I thought I knew the new D, things changed on me again. One day, D flipped a switch and joined a youth group, and decided to stop partying (and start praying) overnight. We didn't talk much after that, but instead, I mysteriously found pamphlets on my desk. One day out of the blue, D invited me to go to a party that night.

When we got to the house it was brightly lit inside, with people sitting around quietly. There was no music, no food, no drinks of any kind. Very odd. I did a big workout that day and hadn't eaten dinner so my stomach was rumbling. After a while everyone gathered around to watch a video on TV, showing starving children from Somalia. Afterward, the youth pastor talked about how we were all going to get closer to Christ. It was a "lock-in" at the house, with no water and no food for the next 24 hours. I looked around in a panic, but only saw solemn looks; no one else seemed surprised. When I looked at my roommate, D did not meet my eyes. At that moment, there was no resemblance to the person I knew from high school at all.