Who Am I : Who I Who Am I?

Every year I look back on the previous and I see how much I have changed. I see the friends I have gained and lost. The heartbreak and the happiness. Despite how rough times have gotten, it has truly made me stronger. Everything has shaped who I am today, it has shaped my identity. Identity is a complex topic because it consists of changeable and unchangeable traits and outside internal influences; my own identity has been shaped by going from private to public school, young life camp, and my current friends.

Discovering who you are or looking at what you have become is creating ones identity. The search for identity can be rather determined by the past than by the present. The past builds you up and who you are today. However, there are key factors in the past that play a bigger role in shaping your identity. Environment, Loss and symbolism are the key factors in the past that have the biggest impact on creating and shaping your identity. Everyone would be different in some way or form, had an event in one of their key factors of identity changed. You are who you are today not because of what happened yesterday, but what you encountered in your early stages of life. Who you have become today was determined thirty, forty or fifty years ago (childhood) “I became who I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975” (1). That one day in the winter of 1975 had taught Amir one of his biggest lessons, which influenced him until he was an adult. So had that one incident not occurred, or that one person did not die or that horrible memory you regret ever day not happen, you in fact

Who are you? The simple question that every icebreaker we play during the first week of school is essentially probing at. But is it really that simple? Most of us answer by saying our name, age, where we come from, maybe even what we like, but do those details really characterize who we are? Do they outline our “identity”? Identity is how we perceive ourselves and what others believe us to be. It involves a set of characteristics that locates us in particular groups, societies, and so forth. These features are the foundations of our identity, but in order to truly develop a sense of identity, it is essential to have a sense of self-awareness. Identity is socially constructed, in a way that once an individual assumes a particular identity, they acquire and exhibit specific social characteristics. Thus once one understands that “who we are” is fashioned by society, they can come to terms with the notion that how we view ourselves and how others see us is not static. Society has formulated a definition for identity and yet it does not take into account the different positions on identity and how it may relate to gender. My standpoint in regards to gender is largely shaped by my social identities, which include my racial and ethnic background, my sexual identity, and my age. These factors, along with my background and personal experiences, define who I am and how I wish the world to see me.

Who I am? Personally, I believe that a person’s identity can take only one of two routes. One, a person’s identity can change within that person’s life. Who I am now, is not necessarily who I was when I was younger. Experience can and will likely modify our identities. Therefore, experience can solidify our personal identification or it can weaken our personal identification. And as such, individuals and their perspectives are always evolving, or at the very least, they should evolve over time. Although there are some identities that evolve throughout one’s lifetime; there are some identities that remain consistent. Two, some identities cannot and will not change. So identities are socially and/or politically forces upon you, some identities are genetically assigned to you, and some you choose to keep. No matter the reason or reasons, these identities have been and will be consist within your lifespan. But, how you deal with them is up to you as an individual.

Who am I? Wow, that’s a broad, difficult question to answer. To cram a whole person and their story in 1,000 words is nigh on impossible; but welcome to the school system. Anyway, my father abandoned me before I was born, and my birth mother (whom I now call a sister) gave up her rights to me when she continued to feed her cocaine addiction. After I was born into a shattered household, I was moved around until my grandparents, who I now consider my parents, took me in. I grew up healthy despite the usage of drugs while I was unborn, with only mild asthma to serve as a constant reminder of the putrid wretch that gave birth to me.

What defines you as a person depends on you. You define yourself by how you act, what you say, and what you do in life. It seems quite simple, yet people still have a rough time finding their identity. Especially, when you are younger. In the adolescent years they learn countless new lessons from life and are slowly finding who they are as a person. The experiences adolescents go through can be very difficult. The experiences vary with the person and some encounter more than others. It doesn’t matter who’s experience is worse though. Everyone’s experience is what brings them to that time when they finally understand who they are. Right now as I have and am going through my adolescent years I have a general idea of my identity. I am impatient, stubborn, opinionated, kind, passionate, funny occasionally, and much more. A few features that define who I am and why I am like this. One specific feature is my anxiety.

“Please go into your assigned rooms. The list will be on or near all doors.” Students

There are many factors that shape us into the people that we are. People often like to believe that they have control over who they are, but there are many agents of socialization that contribute to our overall being. The people that we become are all affected by our families, religion, media, peers, and even our education. Within all of the roles and group memberships that we hold these things still have major influence on who we become, and the way we carry ourselves in social situations. The world would be a very boring place to live if everyone was the exact same. Our different cultures, upbringing, and personal experiences all give us a flavor to add to the Earth. Even though we may be able to relate to each other, we are all unique in our own way

We say a great many things in church (and out of church too) without thinking of what we are saying. For instance, we say in the Creed " I believe in the forgiveness of sins." I had been saying it for several years before I asked myself why it was in the Creed. At first sight it seems hardly worth putting in. "If one is a Christian," I thought " of course one believes in the forgiveness of sins. It goes without saying." But the people who compiled the Creed apparently thought that this was a part of our belief which we needed to be reminded of every time we went to church. And I have begun to see that, as far as I am concerned, they were right. To believe in the forgiveness of sins is not so easy as I thought. Real belief in it is the sort

The first thoughts I had of why I am who I am came in 8th grade, maybe even a year or two before that. As cliche as it sounds, thinking about why you are who you are holds a lot of weight when it comes to finding answers to these ignored questions: Why am I so damn stubborn? How come I am always the first kid in 3rd grade recess to volunteer to eat the mud-covered worm? Why is it that I have emotions, but they have trouble surfacing? A mere sample of perplexing questions that have permeated my mind throughout my life. I gaze back upon my timeline and piece together the answers, through experiences, to these thoughts. As I come to realize, all the answers can be found in my personality, my values of the past and present, and my mom.

Even as a young girl, I have often wondered what it is that makes me who I am. Is it my personality, or my character? Is it my ethnicity? Maybe it is my choice of interests, or maybe a combination of all of these things, because I don’t believe that there is one description or label that is capable of defining me completely. I am a shy person and at times I feel very awkward around people, especially those that I do not know. I am the type of person who will hang back and observe strangers before making the decision about whether or not I want to join in with the group. It is because of this that I am often wrongly labelled as anti social. That is not who I am because I love to be around people once I get to know them, but I am always shy at the beginning. Sometimes I wish that I could make people understand this because I feel like I have missed out on many friendships because of this shyness that seems to come across as me being an unfriendly person, but then again maybe only the people who have had patience are the type of friends that I should be pursuing. I am a positive person to be around and I try not to judge anyone for the choices that they make or the beliefs that they support and I treat everyone with the same respect that I would like to be treated with.

The question “who am I”? Can have a lot of individuals thinking about themselves, including myself because one might not know where to start. It is a very broad question, but having done the Strengths Finder 2.0 assessment, I realized more in depth what kind of person I really am based on my top 5 strengths. Who I am as a learner, who I am in my career and who I am as a person of faith lead me to answering the question above and understanding more of myself within.

As I look back on my journal from the first week of this class I notice how different yet the same my answers to the question “who are you” are. In the first week, I still talked about how I identify as a hard-working college student that strives to meet her goals. I think, still do this day I identify as that. However, now I like to go in-depth with that question. Not only am I hard working but I am hard working because I strive to get my homework done on time, ask questions when I am confused, and participate in class discussions when I have something to input instead of sitting quietly like I typically would. I think that after studying identity for a whole semester I can grasp and identify who I think I

“Who am I” or “who are we?” are both questions that require in-depth knowledge of identity. A complex sociological and psychological phenomenon, identity has been classified into many types. Self-identity is defined as an individual’s awareness and expression of their distinctive characteristics. Weinreich (1986) highlighted that it is influenced by both the individual’s past experiences and future aspirations and contributes to the formation of one’s self-esteem, and individuality. It also indicates the individual’s capacity for self-reflection (Leary & Tangney 2003).

Many people live their entire lives not knowing who they truly are inside, which is a scary thought. Thankfully I was able to take many tests and quizzes to help define who I am to help me find a purpose and know or understand myself on a deeper level. My life has been affected deeply by a handful of traumatic experiences from a very young age. When I was about 5 my father and mother got divorced because he cheated and got another woman pregnant. He kicked us out of the apartment we had lived in and we moved in with my grandma and have lived there ever since. My dad still continues to find things to ruin in my life, but I have found it easiest if I let the past go and try to move on. When I was about 13 I was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety, and it has been an uphill battle ever since. I have struggled with many things such as social anxiety, all the way to suicide. I am in a better place mentally now than I ever have been before, but the battle will never truly end. No one in my family deals with this so I was slowly outcasted or shown my feelings are not important. One day I hope they understand what it is like.