It was junior year when my friend Nicole and I decided to sit in the back of our physics class. The front of the class was too loud for me to focus and I thought I’d learn more there. Nicole asked me what my sign was and I fearfully responded with “Cancer,” the sign I knew no one liked. She squealed as she told me her younger sister was also a Cancer. I asked her what her sign was and she told me she was an Aries. 

My mom read a weekly horoscope to me when I was a kid, but that was all I knew about astrology. Before this point, my zodiac sign did not mean much to me. All it confirmed was that I truly was an emotional being.

“Download Co–star,” Nicole said, “it’ll show you all your planet’s placements.” I did not understand anything she was saying, but I later grasped the concept when she explained to me some of what she knew and told me to Google the rest. 

Your sun represents who you truly are, your moon represents your emotions and habitat, and your ascendant is how other people perceive you.

Each planet was in a specific place at the exact moment we were born. Different placements represent different zodiac signs. There are six placements important to various aspects of our personality: the sun, moon, ascendant, Venus, Mars and Mercury. Also referred to as the “big six,” all of mine are placed in either fire or water signs. If you know anything about astrology, you may be afraid to continue reading this article. 

Your sun represents who you truly are, your moon represents your emotions and habitat, and your ascendant is how other people perceive you. The other three dig into your being even more —  your Venus represents the way you love, Mars represents sex and aggression, and Mercury represents communication. 

I am a Cancer sun, Pisces moon, Leo rising, Cancer Venus, Pisces Mars and a Leo Mercury. Understanding my chart opened my eyes to more than just the reason why I was so emotional or opinionated. It taught me how I communicate, where I work best and even showed me types of careers that I would be best at. And they even led to me becoming a better student.

As a Leo Mercury, I am very outgoing and personable. I learned that the best way for me to communicate with my teachers and fellow students is to be direct. Once I started to communicate very plainly and to the point, I noticed that I was able to understand content and group work better. 

As a Leo Mercury, my best work is done when I am speaking. Talking through problems, having debates and presenting is where I truly shine. When there is the opportunity, I opt for those types of projects. 

Although my Leo Mercury makes me the extrovert that I am, my water signs — sun and moon — draw me back at times. Your moon controls your emotions, family life and even habitat. So although I do my best work with groups, I’ve learned that when it comes to the planning process, that is not always the case for me. 

Pisces moons are highly sensitive and creative beings that tend to be introverts (I know … kind of confusing). Since this is the placement that processes emotions, I learned when it is important to be by myself in certain situations. For instance, when I flesh out ideas or outline a paper, I work best on my own. After a long day of talking to people, I need to take time to myself to process all the information. 

Astrology may confirm aspects of yourself that you already know, but it could also teach you something new.

To many, astrology is just a pseudoscience in which people jokingly believe. In the past, astrology has largely been marketed toward teenagers. The commercialization of astrology has created a stigma around the belief of the ideas as a whole. Those who are against astrology often only know one thing: their sun sign. They argue that the descriptions of their sun sign or the horoscopes that their mom read in a newspaper are “too general” to be true, let alone help you become a better student. And whether or not you choose to believe, the advice that is given is usually helpful on a greater scale. 

Giving up after learning just your sun sign causes you to miss the big picture. It is important to know your “big six,” to have a complete view of how you function and what you need. 

Astrology may confirm aspects of yourself that you already know, but it could also teach you something new. For me, it helped to figure out ways that I learned best; it could do the same for you. Maybe I just matured, but I’m pretty sure my stars aligned.