Analysis of My Personal Identity

Today being able to identify yourself is such a huge controversy. Are you female or male or transgender? These are all labels to me. Determining who you are is much deeper than physical appearance. It’s who you are not what you are. I am trinity. I am a young aspiring neurologist, and I faced many adversities and obstacles that tried to swayed me from my path of success but instead the wind blew from behind and pushed me to excel faster. This wind I speak of the wind that pushes my wa’a or canoe, and the canoe is my method of transportation to my destination. My destination is my goal or destiny and my support is my paddle. I am my paddle. Every crack of faded spot represents my struggles. The first crack presented itself in 2014 when I was diagnosed with graves disease.

“He who loses his individuality loses all” (Mahatma Gandhi). A fight that has raged on throughout the dawn of time is the ability to choose for one’s self. Striving to determine a separable destiny that one idiosyncratic being may reap the rewards from. This ability to be unique comes with it an unwavering document of unwritten law. By which, one must respect another’s agency within the bounds of written law. We have lost the importance of personal identity in our day. The treasure that it is to be distinct and for others to do the same. The ethos of being a law abiding individual is all, but gone. We must realize the importance of individualism in our society today. That equality in all things is impossible, the consequences of how we spend

People’s worldview is shaped, in part, by the languages they speak and their ideologies on said languages. Each of my four grandparents grew up in a different country, so that has created in interesting mix of languages, cultures, and accents that I was exposed to at a young age. The languages I have been exposed to have ranged from religious studies,to self-learning, to an important language exam in high school. This tangle of different cultures not only makes family gatherings interesting, but it also plays an important part in my personal identity and beliefs.

Identity has always been an interesting topic. There are many ways one’s identity is created. When narrowing the topics, it comes down to three main points: others’ opinions, friends and family, and one’s culture.

"Social networking in real life looks absolutely ridiculous," was unquestionably funny! I related to her being “connected” because I personally use LinkedIn often and have made many connections in the work place through this social media. Also, the “endorsing” of your skills comment was right on the nail. I always feel that if someone endorses me I in a way also need to go on their page and endorse them as well. So Jenna wondering out loud if the other individual in the coffee shop was going to endorse her was something I’ve also thought about. I found it hysterical when she decided to “poke” the guy on the street, which was a reference to Facebook, but more importantly he said “this is weird though I don’t even know you” and once again her answer

To begin, an awareness of identity is extremely important in one’s personal life. In Communication between cultures by Larry A. Samovar, it is stated that identity is, “A person’s self-definition as a separate and distinct individual, including behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes” (215). Later in the text it is claimed that identity is a, “…concept of who we are…” (215). Identity plays a significant role in how we perceive things and why we act in the ways that we do. It is also an accumulation of our values, morals, beliefs and even simpler things such as hobbies. With that, it is essential that one is aware of their identity to ensure that they live a happy, fulfilled life.

I believe we all like to think of ourselves as free-thinkers; that is to say, we are all set in our beliefs in one way or another and feel as though our opinions-especially as they pertain to religion and politics- and even our mannerisms are a product of our own individuality and personal world view. However, it is more likely that our identity is shaped less by our own natural inclinations and more by events we have experienced and people we have encountered at various points in our lives. I myself am no exception. As a child, my home life was neither very abusive nor exceptionally loving, but was one that I suppose, for the most, was normal. The political climate of my home was conservative by and large, and naturally my family (my mother epecially) was deeply rooted in evangelical Christianity (Pentecostalism, to be precise). It was through the latter that the things we were and were not ultimately exposed to were filtered. By the time I was ten years old, the religious environment of my home became very strict- the only televiosion programs we watched at home were those broadcsted by evangelical stations, and the same appied to radio stations we listened to and books we read. If any sort of material-be it books, movies, or music- that even bore semblance or anything secular or simply non-religious in nature, my mother saw that it was swiftly and surely eradicted, so as not to corrupt our young and fragile minds. Not surprisingly, my mother who enforced this rigourous

Growing up, I was always the quiet and introverted child who had trouble in communicating with others. Basically, all of my friendships, from pre-school to senior year, were created from the other person taking the initiative to talk to me. My first friend, Alyssa, took on the responsibility of communicating to others for me when we were younger since she was much more outspoken. But starting this year in a completely new school, in an unfamiliar state, without having any friends or family was a whole new ball game. When applying to California schools, I only focused on being close to resources that would assist my future career in film editing. The idea of being all by myself did not really hit me until I was arranging my stash of instant noodles in the Pentland dorms. Anxious and lonesome, I knew that college would be terrible if I continued to stay solitary. I could not spend all of my meals in my dorm, streaming the latest uploads on Netflix. Therefore, I joined the Nikkei Student Union.

When I take a look beck on my lifetime, I see that I’ve changed a great deal in regards to my personal identity. For me to put entirely into words on a paper would take me days to explain how and why things went the way they did, so I’d like to shorten these feeling up. In my youth, I had clearly planned to take the superhero path through life. Professional athlete, firefighter, police officer, or basically anything portrayed in society as a model citizen, a class act if you will, all racing through my mind when thinking about my future. I was mistaking, and for good reason as I had these feelings until I was about ten years old. When the first year with two digits associated itself with my age, a certain maturity occurred. I wouldn’t classify it as a life changing realization, but more of an assistant to my later discoveries. In the time I spent working with my father, albeit mostly masonry work, I began to ask questions with higher frequency. For myself, I wanted to further my knowledge, but at that time, I was really annoyed that I couldn’t understand certain aspects to building such as why we used Weld-Crete on all of our bluestone patios when it seemed that we were the only masons doing anything resemblant of our process.

I’ve lived my life according to the saying “why fit in when you were born to stand out;” therefore, I’ve made a point to differentiate myself from my peers and my family. In my community, I belonged to the 3.65% of people who identify as part of the Other category in my home town. As a white girl in a Hispanic town, I was an outlier from the rich Hispanic Culture. This defined my life from a young age and directed me to learn to thrive while standing out. At home, I was raised in a household where at the end of the day we would congregate around the TV to watch the latest football game. Although I adore spending time with my family, I would rather read than breathe; my family does not relate to that. These circumstances, albeit sometimes daunting due to their secluding side effects, have allowed me to embrace being unique and to capitalize on my individuality to achieve my goals, in a world where I may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

When I was younger my self-esteem was very low but it started to grow once I found myself the understanding of my self-concept. My physical characteristics I obviously knew I was tall, skinny, and had curly hair. However, I had to learn how to become confident in that, I used to always straighten my hair and slouched to seem shorter and even tried to gain weight because people said I was “too skinny”. I soon realized when I tried to change my physical characteristics of my social traits to get people to like me I became unhappy. My social traits are parallel with my beliefs. When I became Christian I started to embrace who I was. My basic structure of who I am is based off being kind and opened minded to everyone even if they are the complete opposite as me to be accepting of even them. My defining interests correlate with my talents as well, I love playing my ukulele even though I would count it as a lack of talent. I love running distance and Nordic skiing. I also on the side love any outdoor activity and reading, especially old books like my favorite is Jane eerie. I used to think to be unique you had to have interests and talents that no one else normally liked but I realized I can still be an individual with this. My role in society like my family role helped me realize how special I was even though my interests and talents might not be unique. My family role and role as a friend are the most important to me. I have another roles as well like a student and an employee

I am Claire Worsham. My family ancestry is mainly from Western Europe such as France, England, Wales, Germany, and Switzerland. I am the youngest of a nuclear family, where I live with my two parents and my older brother. The majority of my family on both my father and mother’s side are different denominations of Christian and practice the traditional Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter. My family on my father’s side is spread out across the southwest mainly. While my mother’s side is centrally in Tennessee.

In the 21st century personal aspects such as race, gender, and social class create an identity for all. Growing up in a different class, race or gender can drastically change the way I can identify. When a person grows up with an identifier such as race or religion, it gives a place to a person in society.

A person’s identity is a key factor in the role they ply within themselves and within the world. If a person doesn’t like their identity or there are internal conflicts, then this person may have issues with their self-esteem, resulting in a low value of life (Phinney & Chavira, 1992). This can affect his/hers role in society and how productive they re within their own life. A person’s concept and acceptation of their identity is very important. My identity starts with my family and their history. These were my beginning influences in the person I am today.

As soon as a person enters the world, screaming, cold and helpless, they are assigned social identity markers, which, in most cases, will be used to label and categorize them throughout their life (Harro 2000). Identity markers are constructed by society and include, but are not limited to: assigned sex, race, and class. We have no choice in what identity markers are placed upon us and they will follow us in life, shaping who we become and directing us to our designated place in society. Our reality, experiences, perceptions and beliefs will all be centered in these identities, whether we like it or not.