My Personal Identity Essay

I remember my first conversation with a public health professor concerning my career goals. He listed various reasons I should go into medicine. He listed that I was a black Nigerian woman with a heavy accent, he told me how society disregarded people like me. He also said that I was a little lower than African-American women and my only escape from this social prison was for me to go to medical school to ensure respect from society. My encounter with this public health professor was the first time I became aware of my social identity as a black Nigerian woman, an able-body heterosexual, a working class young adult and a cis-gender Christian. My social identity as a black working class female, a young adult makes me part of the target group

I am consciously aware of my faith as a Christian because it practically defines every area of my life. My faith allows me to live my life every day in service of a higher purpose. My faith affirms my values on who I am as a person. I am also aware that I am a black Nigerian in America. I have lived in the United States of America for over fifteen years, and I made a conscious effort to not lose my accent in order to remind myself of my identity as black Nigerian. I also purposely resist being identified as a black American because when I first arrived in the United States I was ostracized by my middle school’s black American classmates. I was twelve years old when I was bullied by them. This experience was the most monumental experience of my childhood in America and the scar from this experience is still healing. I blatantly correct any person who assumes I am a black American because I look like a black American. I am least aware of my social identities as a heterosexual, cis-gender, able-bodied young adult. I am least aware of these social identities regarding my sexual orientation, ability, and gender because I am a member of the agent group for these social identities in the American society. As a young adult, even though this social identity is part of the target group, I am least aware of this social identity because I am young and I honestly believe with hard work, determination and dedication I can overcome every