In honour of Galentine’s Day, a holiday which in my opinion, should outrank Valentines, I teamed up with a member of the Brighton chapter of Her Campus to conduct an interview. This interview saw me as the interviewer and the Brighton member as the interviewee, and it turned out to be one that allowed us to truly reminisce the good old days. The topic for the interview was ‘our younger selves’.
Q. What did you want to be when you grew up?
“When I was younger there were multiple things that I wanted to do. The main one I would say was my dream of becoming an actress! I actually attended a singing, dancing, and acting school every weekend for many years; it was great fun and allowed me to first tap into my creative side. I knew I wanted to do something that could reach a lot of people and impact them positively. However, as my passion grew for other things such as literature and writing, my aspirations soon shifted towards media-related careers. I even originally applied to study journalism at university, which later changed to media studies as I felt the latter offered me more flexibility if I had a change of heart”
Q. What was your biggest fear when you were younger?
“I feel like I have two answers for this. First off, I went through a period where I was simply petrified of clowns, all because of the terrifying “murdering clowns” trend that was prevalent in England. I still don’t know whether there was much truth to those incidents but after school when it was dark during the winter, I would run home! Secondly, I was extremely scared of people not liking me or thinking that I was weird. I would constantly attempt to keep up with trends just to please my friends and then become extremely worried if I thought somebody was acting off or distant towards me. I’ve learnt now that the most important opinion is the one I hold of myself”
Q. Who was someone fictional that inspired you?
“I don’t think there was a specific person per se but I can think of a group instead. The Bratz girls (dolls) fueled me as a child. I would watch all their films, play all the games and I even saw them in concert once. What I loved most about the girls was certainly how they were portrayed – they were strong-minded, self-assured girls with a passion for fashion! They all looked different and had completely different styles which I felt was more realistic than Barbies at the time. Yasmin was my favourite as I always identified with her the most as just like me, she was fairly reserved, loved writing and adored animals.”
Q. What is a song that you feel encapsulates your younger self?
“This Is What Makes Us Girls – Lana Del Rey”
“Once I hit puberty around the age of 14/15, I became extremely hormonal and rebellious. I had quite strict parents which in turn further spurred me to act out and do things that allowed me to feel free. I had a large group of girlfriends at the time and we all loved to party, cry and gossip about our love interests whilst basically deceiving our parents. We always had each other’s backs and when push came to shove, we would defend each other. Onto the song, I have listened to Lana Del Rey since I was about 13, and I even went to see her. However, I can’t say that this had much of a positive impact on the way I wished for myself to be perceived either.”
Q. If you could give younger you some advice, what would it be?
“I would tell her to stop holding other people’s opinions of herself higher than her very own. Also, even if you don’t hold them in high regard, why let opinions upset you? They should not have the power to upset you. Additionally, I would tell her to continue pursuing things that light her soul on fire, rather than hopping on mundane trends that will die out within the next year. Your youth is far too short to not sit back and let it take its natural course. Forcing things will only hinder your growth.”
This was one of my favourite articles to write as not only did it allow me to make a new friend from another chapter of Her Campus, but it also allowed me to compare my answers to that of my interviewee. This ultimately made us both realize just how proud we should feel at how much we have grown from the once shy young girls to badass young women now.
Interviewee: India Castro
Words by: Isabelle Adams
Edited by: Harsheni Maniarasan