Big Family Identity

To begin with my family has helped me become a complex character. I will start by talking about my mom she is a very hard worker and she also very tough and she has taught me many things about how to be strict when you need to be and when to take charge. On top of that I was taught how to problem solve by her she has shaped the school and work part of me the most. My dad has been maybe my biggest influence on my life he has told me life lessons and when and how to act in the right way he has also has taught to make the most out what you have and not to give up until

I come from a multiracial family of eleven. I have three biological brothers, three siblings from China, and two older sisters from Haiti. Before you ask, yes, my mom shops at Costco twice a week and drives an old beat up twelve-passenger van christened “Big Blue”. Growing up in a unique family has had a significant impact on who I am today and how I treat people. Perhaps one of the most important life lessons I learned from my somewhat unconventional family is that when it comes to succeeding in whatever you do, resilience and perseverance matter more than physical perfection and innate

If I could describe my own racial identity, I would describe myself as a twenty-one year old girl who is causation. I was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania my whole life with my two sisters. I come from a middle class working family. My cultural background is, I come from the Irish and German heritage. I have green eyes, brown hair and my skin color is light. When it comes to my extended families, racial history is most of my family members were from Ireland and came over the America to raise their families. My great grandmother was born in Ireland, but she lived Czechoslovakia for a few years, before she moved to America. So my most of my extended family that I know are Irish on my father’s side of the family, my mother’s family is German. My parents raised my sisters and I, in a house where religion was very important, my parents raised us as Catholics. My parents were really strict and old school when it came to certain things. How I feel about my racial identity is, I love the person I am and I would not want to change myself at all. I enjoyed the way I was raised; it helped me shape me into the person I am today.

The growth of identity is a practice molded by a person’s family history, environmental experiences, and societal attachments. Identity endures ordeals to make the person secure and attentive so that it’s easier for the person to know what to expect out of their life. Although

Embracing my mother’s Naturally, my small hometown wasn’t diverse. Being the only Indian in school made me hesitant to embrace my identity. Facing racial microaggressions on a regular basis was uncomfortable and burdensome, but I realized there was going to be no change for me unless I learned to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Although I knew that I was fortunate to be more than financially comfortable, it was still a struggle to be comfortable being the darkest person in school. A positive aspect of living in such rural area is that I learned to value simplicity, hard work, and generosity.

My racial identity shaped who I was when I lived in Iowa. My sister and I were the only black children within a 50 mile radius. It did not help that we lived in poor conditions. That only solidified the stereotypes that were tied to me as a black person. I was called “n****r” girl and looked at weird. The teachers gave me looks of pity. I felt alone. My mother was in her own world of picking up the pieces of our broken life that landed us in that foreign town to begin with. I was seen as a charity case. People wanted to house me, befriend me, and aid me because it would be doing society a service. My mother’s friend who I lived with for 2 months treated my sister and I as though we were her personal babysitters, her tax write-offs. She talked about possibly making us her foster children. Not because she wanted a good home for us, but because she could get paid to do it. I was seen as property. She came from a background of prejudice and the insensitive Aunt Jemima figurines and racial remarks only solidified her intentions. Even though she would say, “I can’t be racist. I’m taking care of two black kids”, her actions were driven by race. These instances of

My family, its culture, and religion have all had a major impact and have shaped me to be the person I am today. My parents and grandparents are from Guyana, South America and my great-grandparents are from India, which makes me and my siblings, first generation Americans. Having a taste of both the East and West Indian community has influenced my religion (Hinduism), my moral ethics and values, culture, traditions, and decisions. My individuality has stood out from the majority of my classmates throughout the school because I am the only person who has my background. My heritage and culture has re-enforced my ability to have different perspectives on the world. Even though, my birth and upbringing has been in the United States. Although, I have an East and West Indian descent, I have family members in many other areas of the world. I have also traveled many places across the United States and Canada. For example, driving across the country to the Mid-West as truely shown different eye opening perspectives. Even though we are in the same country, the Mid-West has a completely different culture and outlook on life. This visit helped me to

Jeremy’s Answers I interviewed my nephew, Jeremy, for my Personal Identity paper. I come from a very large family including; six brothers, sister in laws, and fifteen nieces and nephews. My brother, Joe, married an African-American women (Sandra) and had two sons; but, they look nothing alike. Jeremy’s appearance is African-American and Anthony’s is Caucasian. My purpose for this interview was to learn about being a black child in a Caucasian family.

How do you feel race, ethnicity, social class, and religion has shaped you and your family lives? Whether we take notice or not these aspects of our childhood and today’s life contributed to our view point about different parts of the world. Also, the way your family interacted with you and others is determined in a way by these key points. My race, social class, ethnicity, and religion has helped mold me into the young adult I am, beliefs, and values I hold today because I understanding who I am which provides me with the ability to understand others backgrounds.

My mother is Polish and Italian but my father is African American so growing up as a biracial person was always somewhat of a challenge. My relatives my my mothers side always saw my siblings and I as somewhat outsiders because we bared many physical differences from many of them, whereas when I encountered my fathers side of the family it always started out that I was more similar to them but I ended up not being like them enough to be fully accepted as one of them either. It is interesting because some see me as belonging more to a “white” culture and some see me more associated with “black” culture making me feel as though I never really belonged to either. It impacts my identity because at times it can make me feel as though there is not

King, et al. (2015) emphasizes three main points in their research. They are focusing on the lack of literature surrounding what factors may influence a child’s perception of their family belonging. The researchers explain that a child’s perception of family belonging is linked to a child’s well-being, therefore stressing the importance of understand what factors may play a part in the child’s sense of their own belonging. With the number of divorce rates being around 40-50 percent, and the number of adolescent growing up in stepfamilies increasing, the research is applicable. Secondly, the researchers are focusing on the importance of the quality mother-child relationship as well as the stepfather-child relationship. A mother plays a key role

My parents as well as my extended family have been crucial in providing the foundation for my beliefs, attitudes and values. I grew up

According to many psychologists and other social experts, there exist two major social behaviors that are widely adopted globally by a person as they mature into young adulthood: extraversion or introversion. Extroverts are expressive individuals who appear to be energized and enjoy seeking activities that involve socialization with others where

The people who affect my social life the most are my family and friends. I have an extremely close family that has played a major role in my life. They are whom I spend most of my spare time with. My family usually gathers every weekend for dinner. I am also very open to different religions, cultures, and practices because I know many people with different backgrounds and beliefs. Since I've been influenced by various people, I've learned at a very young age to never judge people by how they look, dress, feel, or act. I am very fortunate to have learned these lessons, because many people still do not understand the importance of accepting differences. In a group, I prefer to listen to what others have to say, and then contribute to the discussion. I try to listen so I am able to compare them to my own thoughts. I enjoy working in a group, because it gives everyone an opportunity to incorporate their own ideas. My social self is most greatly influenced by my family and friends.

Identity, it makes up who we are, what we like, don't like, and who were friends with. There are many things that form identity and more people coming up with more ideas. People have been debating on what makes an identity for as long as people existed, but they never quite made up their minds yet. There are endless possibilities of things that make up identity. People have thought of so many things that it is hard to only pick a few. But the three main ones to me would be family, environment, and experiences.