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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at WVU chapter.

Being left-handed can be a struggle. From most scissors only working with your right hand to having to strategically avoid the rings on a spiral notebook, some things are just a nuisance. It can be hard living in a world made for right-handed people. You have to learn to deal with things being annoying or just learn to do them with your right hand. The bane of my college-existence is trying to find a left-handed desk in classrooms — it’s usually impossible, and when there is one, I have to sit all the way in the back, which gets pretty annoying.

But it’s not all bad! There’s a sense of uniqueness that comes with being different. After all, only about 10 percent of people in the world are left-handed. There are some serious upsides that come with being left-handed, and some of them you may have never thought of. 

You’re more creative

Being left-handed means that a person is typically right-brain-dominant. The right side of the brain deals with things like creativity, rhythm and feelings visualization. So, left-handed people are often more apt to be good at things involving creative thinking, and they’re not as good at using logic to solve problems. While this is common to hear, research actually shows that both sides of the brain work together for the most part. However, it often seems to appear true that left-handed people are more oriented towards creativity. 

A lot of famous artists are lefties

Though research says being left-handed doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is destined to be a creative genius, there are a lot of famous people where this actually is the case. Some legends of the music world were left-handed; Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain were all lefties. Many other famous people are part of the minority as well, like Lady Gaga, Seth Rogan, Jerry Seinfeld, Eminem, Jim Carrey and even Bill Gates. Even classical legends Beethoven, Mozart, Da Vinci and Michelangelo were all lefties. 

There’s a holiday!

August 13th is Left-Handers Day. It’s a day to celebrate being left-handed and to let people know about the daily annoyances you deal with. Though it’s not a widely-popular holiday, it’s still nice to know that there’s a day dedicated to something special about you. You can check out the website for Left-Handers Day here.

You adapt faster 

Because the world is primarily catered to the majority of the population, left-handed people often learn to do things right-handed. Because they have to change their behavior to fit the circumstance, they can often generally adapt more easily. Lefties can move between both sides of their brain and body fairly easily, thus making them flexible.

And that’s just a few; here are some other stats about lefties. Though some things can be a nuisance, being left-handed isn’t a curse. There are good things about being a lefty in a righty’s world, like the look on someone’s face when they realize that you’re left-handed too. It’s like you’re instantly bonded over something so small that feels so special. 

 

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Edited by Madison Greer

Sydney Keener is a senior journalism major at WVU with minors in music industry and interactive design for media. She serves as VP for Her Campus at WVU and is the manager of a brand new podcast for Go 1st Records. She is from Grafton, West Virginia and is a big fan of music, nature, sunglasses and cats.
Rachel is a graduate student at WVU majoring in journalism with minors in Appalachian studies, history and political science. In addition to writing for Her Campus, she is also a publicity intern for Arts and Entertainment and a news intern for Univerisity Relations. She is from Princeton, West Virginia and loves her state and its beautiful mountains. She is passionate about many things including dogs, musicals and the Mountaineers.