As I am sure that everyone knows, the first month of the New Year is coming to a close.

As that time approaches, I think about all the New Year’s resolutions that have either been forgotten or haven’t been started at all.

Thanks to Stall Talk, I now know what some of the top ten common resolutions are. Besides the usual stop smoking, work out more and stop drinking, I did not see any thing about self improvement or, more specifically, increasing self-confidence.

My thoughts about self-confidence come from a simple assignment from one of my classes.

I was asked to observe people without speaking to them and try to develop a story. I chose to sit at the MacDonald Dinning Center next to the large picture windows.

I sat and watched for about fifteen minutes and I immediately noticed a pattern: people truly do not like to walk in front of the window.

It was truly amazing and amusing to watch as people tried not to be looked at or look through those windows. Some people would cross the street to avoid being seen by peering eyes through the window. Or some would pull out their cell phones to pretend to be doing something important, and then there were those few who just walked full stemmed ahead without looking in the window at all.

Normally these simple behaviors would not be anything out of the usual if not everyone did it.

But of course, there were those few people who did walk by the window and look inside, and then some even waved and smiled.

Those few people had confidence.

I have to admit that I am one of those people who will try to do anything but look inside the window. I am not sure if it’s the fear of falling or doing something terribly embarrassing that prevents people from looking, but the point is that people might not have as much self-confidence as one might think.

It’s easy to spot. If you look around campus, you can see who has more than others.

Sometimes people walk with their head down, staring at their feet as they make their way through campus.

Then there are others who look up and smile at everyone or give the universal head nod.

I am not saying that one is better than the other; I am saying that we all have faults or areas that need improving that we are just sometimes not aware of and need a reminder from time to time.

When someone walks with their head held high, it’s as if they command respect. And although one should never judge a book by its cover because there is a lot about a person that you don’t know, body language says a lot about a person.

Self-confidence is important and can improve one’s life. It’s okay to eat or walk by yourself without the comfort of the cell phone.

So the next time your walking through the Union or past the MacDonald windows, look inside and smile.

Besides, you might see someone you know.

Send comments to Laurie at [email protected]