I Shadowed a Stranger for a Day and This is What I Learned

Everyone, for the record, I didn’t follow around a stranger for a day. I followed the person who lives above me and I had permission. So, let’s move on.

I did learn so much from “walking in someone else’s shoes” for a day. Right now, I am sitting on my couch, exhausted. What I learned from today is that One, people think lowly of themselves. Two, you never really get to know someone, and three, we are very different but we are also very alike.

Because I learned these things throughout the course of a day, let me take you through what I did.

People Think Lowly of Themselves

I have Monday’s off from school, which is why I choose today of all days to follow my upstairs neighbor around all day.

I met up with her in her apartment where she was getting ready for her swim class. We were walking to her class together when I asked her if she thought she was courageous. She said, “I don’t think I am a courageous person.”

This shocked me. From what she had told me, she wanted to do a Triathalon, she wanted to help the environment, and all she wanted in life was to do God’s will. To me, that was something amazing.

Throughout the rest of the day, I realized that she would occasionally say that what she was doing was less than that. It was then I realized that people don’t consider themselves to be all that great.

And while I believe in humility, I also think it is important to realize the small things that you do each day in your life. You are different than anyone else. It is important to count even the small things.

You made a delicious sandwich, good for you. You finished a project, that is amazing. Take some time to pat yourself on the back.

You Never Really Get to Know Someone in a Day

After I got done with her molecular biology class (which I understood but it hurt my brain) I was sitting with her talking about her ambitions, what she wants to do with her major, and other questions I had.

When you are talking with someone for a while day, you can learn a lot about someone, but I also learned that you can never learn someone in a day.

During this day, I learned that my neighbor not only studies a subject that gives me a headache but she also manages to say hi to almost everyone I see.

Whenever I saw her say hi to someone, I just wondered how much I didn’t know about her.

We are All so Different but so Alike

I think the one thing I learned the most while following around my neighbor is that everyone is different but they are also very alike.

What I mean by this is that every person I have met in my life has been so different. Each person has their own personality, something that they like, and each is different for each specific person.

But at the same time, everyone is alike. I’ve noticed that people tend to have the same fears, hopes, and dreams as everyone else does.

Out of all of the people who I have interviewed I have found this to be true.

I think sometimes we like to tell ourselves stories of how we are alone or how we don’t fit in. In the end, we all have minds and we all have hearts. We are more alike to each other than we admit to ourselves.

We may think lowly of ourselves, we may not be able to know who people are in a day, but at the end of it, we realize that we are apart of something greater. We are apart of humanity. And I think that is the greatest lesson of all.