Discovering Who I Am

— Noah Dinner

Discover. Humans love to discover new things about the world, about how everything works. That they were the first ones to find this or create this thing. But something we do without even thinking is we discover who we are as a person, as a human being

Now depending on who you are, it could take you 5 years, 10 years, it could even take you your whole life even if you’re 60 to fully understand who you are. It is okay if you don’t figure it out before you finish college. As for me, it has been a difficult journey and it is still hard. While I was growing up I never knew what I really wanted to do after school. I didn’t have the grades to go to a four year university. I finished high school with a 2.5 GPA and four years of wrestling. That is all I had to give to colleges. I never applied myself to any extracurricular activities, I didn’t go beyond the minimum for homework, I basically never tried to do better. My grades throughout high school were Ds, Cs, some As. I was fine with it but once I finished high school, I realized how much I needed help. 

I thought I was going to go to college, get my bachelors and work my way into the FBI, that was the first time I actually had a thought for my future. I chose to go to the FBI because ever since I was 9 years old, I was fascinated by why we kill, what makes serial killers and how we can prevent them. Still to this day, I know so much information about all types of killers from the books and documentaries. I made it my life’s mission to get into the FBI to either become a criminologist or forensic scientist, and even though I was not great in school I wanted to be in that job. 

Unfortunately it didn’t work out. I went to NOVA for almost 3 years right after high School.(If I was you, I would have taken a gap year to be free from school for a while and do what you want to do). I never never enjoyed school at any point. I hated it, I was more work oriented. The minute you hire me I will work and work until it pays off. That I could do I was great at jobs. So in December of 2025 I left school, I never graduated, didn’t get my associates degree, so my future plan to get into the FBI was never going to happen. I never expected that I would be able to do what I wanted, I chose to leave school, to work full time and make my money. I got a job at the Hamilton Restaurant in DC where I will be making more money than I ever have and be able to move up into management. I changed what I wanted to do for years, I kept going back and forth between what I wanted vs what I needed to do. 

I grew up in a house where discovering yourself is normal where finding what makes you you is okay. I was the first one in my family to not graduate college. To drop out of college, compared to everyone else in my family who has either masters or went to an amazing university or whatever they did made me feel like I had to do this because everyone else did and I don’t want to be left out. But as I got older, I still felt like that sometimes but I realized that it didn’t matter if I had to have masters or not, they wanted what is best for me. 

I never planned it to be like this, I didn’t know who or what I wanted to become when I got older. I still am discovering who I am meant to be in this world, how I leave my mark on no matter in what way. So if you’re just finishing high school or college, if you’re looking for your first job or that real job that will lead you to your career. Don’t stress about it and don’t rush it, you don’t want to regret the choice you made. Believe me, I have made choices in my life that I rushed into that now I regret doing. It takes time and that is ok, you are learning more about yourself everyday. The old saying ‘Well you learn something new everyday” also means that you could one day realize that you are good at something you never thought you were.

So in the end, don’t stop discovering who you are, if that is by making mistakes, climbing a wall, cooking, reading or anything at all. Discovering who we are is one of the most special and important thighs in a human beings life, you are not told who you are, what you will become, your journey or anything. You have freedom and now you are discovery.

Noah comes to us by way of the BroadFutures 2026 Winter Internship. He is spending twelve weeks observing and participating in The Arc of Northern Virginia’s operations and programs and bringing his own perspective and contribution to our work.