As college students with tight schedules, it might be hard to pay attention to our appearance, especially when we go to classes, right? Wrong.

I believe the way you dress in public tells a lot about your personality and you also either strengthen or weaken people’s perceptions of you through your appearance.

In boarding school in Nigeria, we wore uniforms every time we were outside the dormitories. We had different uniforms for class, sports, evening activities and outings. This may sound weird to some, but I realized the importance of this was to make us look like serious students in the public eye and we were able to represent the school in that way. There are numerous reasons why schools adopt the idea of uniforms for students, but I think the reasons are quite important.

In a 2013 article published in the Guardian, Chloe Spencer said, “A school uniform teaches students to dress smartly and take pride in their appearance.”

Claire Howlette, an English teacher, was also mentioned in the article and said, “Uniforms help students prepare for when they leave school and may have to dress smartly or wear a uniform.”

Now do not get me wrong — I’m not saying Iowa State should propose a school uniform policy and make all of us wear uniforms. Using Howlette’s perspective, I am saying we should all develop a sense of dressing smartly to class and anywhere else outside our rooms, apartments or houses.

When I was a freshman, I did not have the best sense of fashion but I still tried to look decent and serious through my dressing. I often got piercing stares from people, which made me very uncomfortable.

There was a time I was getting ready to go study with my friends and in my mind, I was dressed quite simply — I was wearing a nice shirt, a pair of jeans and a sweater. I remember someone saw me and told me I looked so fancy and it did not look like I was going to study. I was so perplexed but that is when I realized that many people do not take their appearance seriously at Iowa State.

I wanted to conclude that it was an Iowa thing because I’ve been to other states on the East Coast, where I do not have to feel overdressed in clothes I consider simple. However, generalizations are dangerous and I know not everyone in Iowa cares about their outward appearance.

There are some events that take place on campus that sound like they should be formal, but students are given the option of dressing casually. An example of this is the Friley Snowball Dance, which took place in January. Students were told they did not have to dress up for it. I am always excited for a chance to dress up fancily in Ames — since there are not that many opportunities — but I did not go to this dance because I did not see the point of having a formal dance where people could show up in sweatpants and hoodies, while others were in nice dresses and suits.

I see a lot of people who wear sweatpants to class. Some even wear pajamas. This horrifies me. There was an instance where I asked a group of people if there was pajama day in the U.S. because I saw a lot of my friends in England dressed in their pajamas for a whole day. Someone in the group responded and said, “Every day at ISU is pajama day!” I stared at her in disbelief, but I reserved my comments because it was actually a serious issue for me.

Now let us imagine a reverse situation. Maybe some of you have, but I have never seen any of my professors show up in sweatpants or pajamas or any attire that is too casual. But let’s imagine that our professors, advisers, bosses, supervisors and any other authority figures we know do show up every day to class or work in sweatpants, pajamas or informal attire. Would you be able to take them seriously? I know I wouldn’t. How would you judge them? Would you care or not?

“I think everybody should be comfortable with dressing their best and looking professional,” said Jasmine Morina, junior in apparel, merchandizing and design. “It’s fun for me. When you look good, you feel good. I don’t dress to impress others but I want to look my best because it makes me feel confident.”

It is important to feel comfortable in our clothes and present our style and personalities the way we want to. I am not saying we should all wear suits and formal attire to Walmart or the dining center, but we should care a little more about our appearance and the way we present ourselves in public.

I agree with Morina — I also do not dress to impress others and I enjoy looking good for myself. Nonetheless, first impressions are lasting impressions in any situation we find ourselves and some people will still judge you by the way you dress.

We should at least try with the classroom setting. Leave the sweatpants and hoodies at home and come to class looking snappy casual. I believe it will help in the long run. By dressing smartly to class, I believe we will feel more confident about the way we present ourselves in public and this will help us prepare to make smart dress choices when it comes to our future professional lives.