Finding Identity In High School

For over a decade, many a middle school student has watched an episode of degrassi and wondered “How accurate is this show anyway?” Everyone at some point questions how many teens deal with any of the situations dealt with in this TV show. The drugs, depression, and drama come off as excessive, but then again we should be watching the show in context. These high school students, like every Degrassi student before them, experiences biological, cognitive, and social change daily. They are slowly growing into the people that will one day make some of the big decisions in this country or even other countries. First these young people are forged through the biological and cognitive changes they will face, as well as the uncontrollable environment with which they were born. Leading up to an important discover that all adolescents must make, their identity. All adolescents will be challenged to make the decision on who they are and what for what they stand at some point in their teen years. Following two students from this generation of Degrassi students, Tristan and Miles, one can see that the road to identity achievement is different for everyone, but follows certain circumstances and experiences not unique to the adolescent condition.

As you continue to go through each grade, it becomes harder to distinguish yourself from those around you as you are ushered through the cookie cutter of life in order to excel in the world hoping to be prepared for experiences that you may face.Through college, one is presented with the opportunity to reinvent themselves and really discover who they are. I hope to take advantage of this newfound freedom in order to develop who I am as a person as I prepare my self for the obstacles that I will soon face. I believe this step in life will help me break out of my metaphorical cocoon to become more comfortable with who I started out as and who I will become.

Everyone is unique in their own way. People and the environment can change who they to find out who they are. Identity describes one’s various aspects of themselves. It takes the time to find out who they are. People and the environment can affect one’s identity with struggles to overcome. Determination defines one’s identity by setting a pathway to follow because it shows how one’s dreams are achievable.

For numerous students, high school is an unsafe, uncomfortable environment. Typically these students belong to a minority group. Frequently, these students seen as stereotypes, their identity is disrespected, and when they speak up about a problem they’re facing, they often find themselves talking to an unsympathetic ear. As a member of the LGBT+ community, I faced these problems in high school.

Becoming youreself with highschool can be one of the most lost and draining causes a teenager can face. It is as easy to lose the meaning of “me” as forgetting to put your name on a paper. The pressure that is placed on a student wether it is good grades, sports, clubs or getting a job for instace. We face the question of who are we? How are we truly able to find ourselves when ourselves our trying to balance the pressure of becoming who our parents, teachers and peers expect us to be.

High school is the most important time for teenagers and it is the time where they grow and learn to think differently about their self. If we could recall back to any films that has been made from the past years for example, Cyberbully, Mean girls, Cassi and vise versa, we could see that this these films focus on teenagers concerning about identity and their self; whether popularity that boost their confidence, and bullying. However, this paper will be about the observation conducted at McDonald’s; the first part of the essay will focus on the environment, secondly, the adolescent’s physical characteristic, then social skills, language skills, and behavior. The essay will continue on discussion about some possible programs that should be created to help middle adolescents or teenagers with identity issues; because identity affects all categories of development.

During adolescence, we ask ourselves, "Who am I? Who do I want to be?" Answering these questions involves integrating the healthy resolution of all earlier stages. Adolescents must explore, test limits, become autonomous from parents, and commit to an identity, or sense of self. One can only establish an identity after trying out various roles, behaviors, and ideologies. Failure to achieve a sense of identity results in role confusion, an inability to make decisions and choices about vocation, sexual orientation, and one's role in life.

This all taught me that most actions you make, don’t just affect you, they affect other people too. Also, when I’m in highschool, I want to have a good time! I don’t want a bunch of people talking to me to put another person down, I want a lot of people talking to me because they enjoy it! I already have a lot of friends that are freshmen, but I don’t want to ruin that next year because I hurt somebody else. I am going to try to live my life to the fullest, and I am going to remember this in high school so I don’t affect anybody else in a bad

It’s a good thing that high school is the place for finding yourself, because who I am is something I am still figuring out. In my opinion, education and discovering more about who you are go hand in hand, because as you learn you are exposed to new ideas, cultures, and other things that could change one’s personality and views. Even Aristotle once said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” I may not have discovered everything about myself, but I know that I am an amiable, inquisitive, and assiduous person. Although I possess many valuable traits, no one is perfect and I know I am quite unorganized and forgetful. All of these traits are important attributes of my character, and I wouldn’t be myself without them.

5.) Adolescents have to find their identity. This can be a challenge for some adolescents, because of the environment surrounding them. Researches have suggested growing up in Western countries is more difficult. In Western countries children are expected to not act like children, but aren’t expected to act like men and women. People in the United States expect their children to be successful, by providing them with name-brand clothing and electronics. However, in non-Western countries children passes through stages. A ritual is preformed to recognize a child turning into an adult. When this happens children receive blessings and spiritual gifts. Most importantly, some children aren’t allowed to live with their mothers after puberty in non-Western countries. All children develop differently. Girls tend to need relationships to feel connected in the environment, while

Individuality is a facade and conformity is the norm. A person who is “different” is considered an outcast, undeserving of the pleasant and jocular memories associated with high school, or as some adolescents refer to it, “the best four years of their lives.” Such statements, filled with glittering generalities and hopeful testimonies, run completely opposite to my personal experiences. Although I have learned positive lessons, the overwhelming perusal and close examination of self I have had to face has become an outstanding negative consequence of high school. These repercussions primarily stem from academic performance, self-image, and overall social stratification.

The biggest change in a student’s life is the day they pack up, move to a new place, and commit to their higher education. As difficult of a time it may be due to class work and homesickness, often enough students can find themselves confronted with an identity crisis. In a whole new world, the influences surrounding young adults from parents and high school peers often dissolve, leaving the scholar to acquire their individuality. Developing independence is a challenging feat that can be accomplished through personality exploration, important evolvement as a person, and being content with oneself. This will become so important to the freshman’s success as he or she faces a new environment where everything is new.

Learning from mistakes is very important in life. Making a mistake is in everyday life and everybody makes them. But the main thing to do is to learn from them so that you will not do them again. Every time you make a mistake there is always potential to grow and mature

My high school experiences have become imprinted into my memory and parts of me. I changed entirely from the first day I walked in as a freshmen to the last day I walked across the stage with my diploma. Not only do I look different, but I act, think, and understand differently. Our identities are a process of social encounters with different groups of people, contrasting systems, and self-defining moments that we face in high school. I realize now that an individual’s character is largely constructed by other people’s opinions, unwritten rules, and a subliminal hierarchy. The reality of high school makes it difficult to escape the ideal image of a perfect student, friend, respectful significant other, and model child. With all these different forces pulling students back and forth, the primary goal is to be accepted, despite how much change one must undergo. From my high school experiences I know how to deal with peer pressure, alienation, and cliques. Thus, my former high school social lessons and knowledge allow me to reshape my perception, values, and self-image to this day.

Psychologists, sociologists, and other scholars have studied the process of developing and forming an individual identity in-depth. The use of psychosocial theories, defined as, “unified, systematic casual explanation of a diverse range of social phenomena”, assist in providing organized guidance in better understanding identity development (Patton, Renn, Guido, & Quaye, 2016, pg. 5). Psychosocial theory helps to serve as guiding points to understand development within individuals. They can provide insight into the journey of developing and establishing an identity. The purpose of this paper is examine my own journey by applying psychosocial identity theories to my collegiate experience.