What Is My Identity Essay

1275 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of cultural identity

There are 1.13 million foreign students in the U.S. (Miriam) Since last month I am now part of them. Moving to the U.S. and going to college will represent a major change in my identity. I am now living without my parents and moved to a place where I have no friends. In contrast, when I lived in Mexico I hanged out with them every week and had a good time with them in special dates. This is the time when I am going to form my identity by myself, while before, when I was a kid, it was formed by my parents, from which I inherited his values and code of ethics. At this new stage of my life being part of new groups will be inevitable and I will have to struggle to make all memberships come into harmony. Specially now that I am living with my roommate forming a new group with him. Living with a friend in the same This group is not just the group that I have been in all my life, but it is mostly there where I formed my personal code of ethics and learned the values I practice everyday. For example, it is within my family that I learned to be responsible and work hard because my father is like that and since I was a little kid has influenced me to do things right just like he does. Also, patience and tolerance are some values that are part of my own code of ethics. I adopted them from my mother, she is very patient with people and tolerate diversity. All those things, I learned them from my parents, and became part of who I am today, they form my identity. Now that I am in a different country, I am still part of my family. Although, it is not easy to be so distant to a group that I have been always close. Hence, being distant will strengthen my identity because I will practice everything I have learned from my parents by myself. I will probably later, include other aspects of my personal experience and pass them to my children in the future just as my parents did to me but now my own experience will be

Show More
Related

  • Rebekah Nathan's As Other See Us

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    They only care about themselves and they do every thing for themselves. Perhaps they gain that from how they use to live as they grow up and from the custom that every eighteen years old American should leave his or her parents home, starts his or her own life and here the story repeats again and again. This life style teaches the Americans that no matter who they will be friend with and who they will meet, they will leave one day and they will be nothing in their life, exactly in the same way they left their parents home who supposed to be their most beloved and important ones in their life. “International students saw ‘individualism’ and ‘independence’ as characteristic not only of roommate interactions but of relations with family and friends as well.” (Nathan 73). Therefore, American students apply this way of living even in the college life, which most of the international students do not have this kind of hard abundance. “’Americans have a lot of independence. At eighteen in Mexico, I can’t think of living by myself, but we think united is better, for both family ties and for expenses.’” (Nathan

    Read More

  • What Is Identity Development Essay

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    Human development is a highly complex lifelong process. Identity is a self-definition or sense of who one is, where one is going, and how one fits into society. It relates to our basic values that dictates the choices we make in life. It is considered that identity formation is a means of finding oneself, by matching one’s talent with available social roles. Crisis is a vital part in one’s development. It occurs in every stage of finding one’s self and without resolution, may lead to tension and role confusion. Dedicated and influential theorists such as Erik Erikson and James Marcia have contributed significantly to the broadening and understanding

    Read More

  • What Are The Challenges Of Moving To America

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many challenges that one must face as we go through life. I have faced a few myself, however, none proved more challenging than moving from my country; Jamaica, to the United States and subsequently moving to the state of Wisconsin. Deciding to leave behind family and friends is the hardest decision to make, however, there are a few things that I was not prepared for that made the transition more challenging than expected. Moving away from all that is familiar culturally, socially and economically can be even more of a daunting task than imagined. There are things that are taught to us by our parents and others that are more dictated by our environment than anything else, so when I immigrated to the United States I had three major challenges to overcome.

    Read More

  • Dramaturgical Analysis In Sociology

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the closest primary group I have, my family has definitely laid out a social base for me to follow and

    Read More

  • Personal Essay: Identity Status (Chapter 12)

    2172 Words  | 5 Pages

    While I was in high school I moved from a huge public school to a small charter school. Doing this allowed me to step outside of my own surroundings and look into other options for my future. By the time I was 16 my character had started to mature causing identity achievement in my life. I was committed to making my present better so that my future would be prodigious. I knew by the time I was 16 that I wanted to be a family lawyer, but before coming to that conclusion my attention was drawn more towards teaching. As I did research on both careers and started experiencing different situation in both fields I finally was able to make my choice. From reading the text it tells you that someone with this status of identity has strong beliefs in what they want to do, they are committed to their values and goals and they follow a period of exploration (pg.315). During this journey of looking into future careers I had to do a lot of searching. When I first was developing a taste for what I wanted to do in the future I knew I loved children so I ventured out into the teaching path. I was going to a charter school at the time allowing me to intern in a third grade class. I loved it; I gave spelling tests, helped with lessons, and arts and crafts, throughout this time only being 14. In my mind this would have been an outstanding job. Being with children all day, teaching them skills that they would use in their future. It was a dream for me. But as I was exploring I had to realize that if I wanted to live the life style I have grown up in being a teacher would not grant that. The book talks about how when in the stage of identity achievement you look at the criteria of w...

    Read More

  • What Is Identity Essay

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is many different ways which the concept of identity has been defined and studied by social scientists. Some of these scientists include, Coatsworth, Shwartz, Srivastava, and Furstenburg. The actual dictionary definition of “identity” is, the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. An individuals’ personality characterstics also relate to their sense of identity. These types of characterisitcs are known as, the “Big Five'”. This is a term used to describe the five broad traits of humans.

    Read More

  • My Immigration to America Story

    699 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since I still wanted to make friends, I desperately continued to try to break down the barrier between my peers and I and I slowly began to succeed. As I began making more and more friends, my experience in the U.S. started to become a happier one. Although there were still many things about American culture that I did not understand, I chose to face my fears head on which lead to a more content life. I realized that no matter where you are from, what obstacles you had to face, or what social class you belong to, coming to America gives you an opportunity to build a new and better life for you and your family. The journey to learn this lesson was not an easy one, but I’m glad I learned it.

    Read More

  • Identity Essay: What Is The Issue Of Identity?

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    Am I Yaman Hussayni or a Syrian? A question that has been stuck in the halls of my brain for the past week. As it seems to be the issue of identity is a complicated one. Do we choose our identity or it chooses us? And what is identity exactly? According to common idea in society identity is a very general word as it has several branches, cultural identity, personal identity, or even educational one are only some of them. To me, identity is the state of mind by which someone is directly recognized as character in public. It is the fragments of our life that will always remain with us, the permanently unchanging parts of us. Our looks, our beliefs, our culture, the places and things

    Read More

  • Shaping Identity

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today's world, society creates an impact on human life. More of an impact can be seen among family and peers. They can be found at home, work, and school. At home with family, identity can be created on the difference of having one parent, divorced or separated parents, no parents, abusive parents, or even negligent parents. For example, children who grow up without a father or mother figure tend to become more independent at an early stage. Another example is where certain experiences within the family such as constantly witnessing parents argue can cause one's identity to be confined and distant. But, some people shape their identity similar to their parents. Such as a son became a soldier in the army because his father was in the army. Siblings, if any, are also an influence on the social identity of a person. They either become your friend, mentor, or you...

    Read More

  • My Ethnic Identity Essay: This Is Who I Am

    1348 Words  | 3 Pages

    Times are changing and I feel like I am forced to conform to the everyday social norms of America, which makes me feel impuissance. Racial identity, which refers to identifying with a social group with similar phenotypes and racial category, is the only experience that I have with life (Organista, 2010). Racial ethnicity was used to build my self-esteem and to keep me in the dark when it came to how society treats individuals of darker complexion. However, once I left the confines of my family and neighborhood, I was forced to befriend and interact with individuals that had different cultural values and beliefs than me. This experience caused me to learn how to appreciate other racial and ethnic groups and their cultural values and belief. This is an accurate definition, of acculturation because I was able to understand and fit in with individuals different from me, while maintaining my own culture and ethnic identity. Therefore, knowing the importance of my ancestry, while acculturating and developing my own identity was all used

    Read More

  • My Personal Identity

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    A person’s identity is shaped by many different aspects. Family, culture, friends, personal interests and surrounding environments are all factors that tend to help shape a person’s identity. Some factors may have more of an influence than others and some may not have any influence at all. As a person grows up in a family, they are influenced by many aspects of their life. Family and culture may influence a person’s sense of responsibilities, ethics and morals, tastes in music, humor and sports, and many other aspects of life. Friends and surrounding environments may influence a person’s taste in clothing, music, speech, and social activities. Personal interests are what truly set individuals apart. An individual is not a puppet on the string of their puppet-master, nor a chess piece on their master’s game board, individuals choose their own paths in life. They accomplish, or strive to accomplish, goals that they have set for themselves throughout their lifetime. Individuals are different from any other individual in the world because they live their own life rather than following a crowd of puppets. A person’s identity is defined by what shaped it in the first place, why they chose to be who they are, and what makes them different from everybody else in the world. I feel that I have developed most of my identity from my own dreams, fantasies, friends, and idols.

    Read More

  • Individualism In Home Culture

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    In contrast to my culture’s social norm of Individualism, our host culture displays the social norm of Collectivism, where identity is found solely in one’s family group. I first observed Collectivist culture from the families in the grocery shop on Monday. They made most of the decisions together as a group, even allowing the small children to have a say in what was bought. On Tuesday, while on our first house visit, the mother spoke often of her children and husband, stating how much she detested being apart from her husband while she healed from an injury. A similar sentiment was expressed by the family at our second house visit on Wednesday, when they spoke of the struggle to reunite as a family once they were all in America, and how they continue to send help to family members who are not in the States yet. During the Pakistani church service on Sunday afternoon, I noticed many families sitting together as a large group, allowing the children to interact with each other. The group speaker on Tuesday spoke of his attachment to his family, mainly to his younger

    Read More

  • Identity Vs Identity Confusion Essay

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    The fifth stage, according to Erik Erikson psychoanalytic theory of development is the Identity Vs Identity confusion. The stage occurs during adolescence in the ages between 12 to 18 years. At this stage, the adolescents try to find a sense of personal and self-identity by intensely exploring their personal goals, beliefs, and values (McLeod, 2017). Notably, the adolescence is between childhood and adulthood. Thus, their mind is between the morality learned during childhood and the ethics they are trying to develop into adulthood. The transitioning from childhood to adulthood is the most important development for a person because the individual is becoming independent and is focusing on the future regarding career, relationships, families

    Read More

  • Change and Transition in Life

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even before arriving to the United States, the fear I felt was not having the familiarity of home (St. Lucia). Moving to the U.S meant that I had to start my life all over again. This time it would be without the unwavering support of my family and friends. Whether I succeeded or failed in school was entirely up to me. It wa...

    Read More

  • Cultural Reflection Paper

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are a lot of different cultures in the world we live in today. Finding the place you belong and discovering your own culture can be a challenge. This is especially true when you look at culture as an individual versus culture in your family, or even within your community. I’ve always been very family oriented, so that plays a big part in who I am and how my family’s dynamic works. I believe that my family has had a huge impact on the development of my culture, and I hope that I have had the same impact on theirs.

    Read More

More about What Is My Identity Essay

Open Document