My Controversy On Personal Identity

From a young age, I was taught to respect people no matter their station in life. My parents and others I was around frequently, simply did not allow for disrespect, often I was corrected swiftly but fairly. The parenting I received is a large part of the parent I am, as well as, the person I am. I maintain a happy go lucky demeanor, I suppose the nation I was raised in, and along with the fact that I have never really known violence on a day to day basis as too many others in the world are subject to allows me to seek perspective without fear of persecution or bodily harm. I have many friends from various walks of life. I have crashed on their couches and they mine, and security I find in those relationships has helped me through tough times and allowed me to feel good when I help in turn. Being an overall good person without religion being the guiding force in my life is a big part of my identity. There is no fear of “hell” or a bad scenario in the hereafter, so my attitude on life is not forced or faked. One final influence on my identity is my early adoption of technology, I have always enjoyed gadgets and computers and feel it has made me useful and I will maintain that feeling into old age as I understand tech more than most my age I’d speculate. All of this combined makes my identity, I do my best to avoid negative influences, and sometimes positive ones, in order to make up my own mind about each new scenario I am placed into.

As you go throughout life, it is not very common to stop and question your own personal identity, because you are just you, there does not seem like that much to it. But, in the philosophical world, this topic is one of the most popular things to look into and try to understand. Surprisingly, the idea of personal identity is not as simple as it seems. Many philosophers seem to question if personal identity even exists, and if they do believe it exists, how exactly? In the most popular philosophical arguments, there are three theories of personal identity that stick out; psychological approach, ego theory, and bundle theory. These three theories discuss how personal identity can be identified, or if it even exists at all. There is no way to be one hundred percent positive that one of these theories is true, so there will be always be a mystery to personal identity. Even though we can never be sure, it is always interesting to look into each theory and discuss the possibilities to our own personal identity.

The issue of personal identity is one of the most broadly treated problems in the philosophical community. “Who are we?” “Where do we come from?” “What makes us human?” are some of the inquiries that most people face during their lives. Consequently, because for the majority of people it is almost natural to ask themselves about the meaning of their own identity, it is understandable that most major philosophical figures have presented their own theories regarding this question (Olson). In the same manner, it is reasonable that there exist certain conflict between these ideas. One of the most negatively received theories of personal identity came from the mind of John Locke. Essentially, his theory equaled identity with a person’s

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My struggles with personal identity, at least as far as they relate to Navy SEAL parachuting techniques, all started in 3rd grade.

Personal identity is something that we originate from many sources in our lives. It can be obtained from life events, experiences, or persons who bring meaning or significance to our lives. Therefore, I believe that we acquire personal identity from not only our skills, occupation, but from all aspects of our everyday lives. However, I also believe that personal identity is obtained from the things that we care most such as family, friends, career, college degree, and social work. Family, friends, career, college degree and social works are sources of identity and are very meaningful part of my life.

All throughout my life, I have always wanted to be the best that I can possible be. I have always been driven to be the best student in my classes and be well liked by everyone around me. Up until college, I truly thought that I was unique in every way and that I was unlike other people because of my hard work and compassion towards others. I thought that I had worked hard to get where I was, and my hard work alone was the only thing that made me stand out among others. Especially when I was applying to colleges, I thought that I was going to get into college based on my good grades and extra circulars. Looking back now, I realized that many of the opportunities I have received in my life have not been because I am just a hard worker, but

Our backgrounds is usually what defines; my background is my identity. Everything about my life, my background and weirdly I would like to think my future spells hardship. I on the other hand would like to think that my background prepared me for this. As I look on my childhood, I contemplate what exactly made it enjoyable. Childhood should be simple but as for me, I was consumed with responsibilities, however hopeful for what the future might hold for me. My childhood was instrumental (very significant) in shaping who I have become as a young woman:

I always knew that this was going to be a big step that I would take in my life. At first, I was uncertain because I knew things were going to change. But then I decided it was the right decision to make, so when I turned 12 my journey began, and I had finally decided to put on the hijab. Putting on the hijab was a very hard decision for me, as I had to accept it being a part of my identity and who I was. Almost every girl who puts on the hijab is faced with some obstacles along the way. For some, its their families not accepting their decision to wear it and for others its their low-self esteem and confidence. But for me it was the idea of starting high school as a completely different person.

There has been experiences throughout my life that have shaped my life and personally shaped me into the person that I am today. From being exposed to these experiences, I have gained personal values, self-identity and different aspects of my life. These aspects of my identity include my gender, ability-status, social class and language. Having these influences showed me how different I am compared to another person who has the other characteristics like myself.

There are status and symbols that are associated with ethnic people. These status or symbols are sometimes positive and others are negative. Therefore, these labels only hinder us from achieving our potential. Stereotypes about minorities are imposed by other cultures. This is also true of gender expectation.

What is your identity? People think they know someone’s identity by the external factors, but there are internal factors that they don’t know about the person. For example, people might think people are happy, but deep down they might be sad and they don’t want nobody to find out. I define myself as a catholic heterosexual 15 year old Latina. My identity is very different than what others think of me. I think my real identity is awesome, some people think that because I am a teenager I’m into parties,relationships,drugs and also how I’m a teenager, I don’t like kid shows or playing with my little cousins also they think I don’t do “kid stuff” anymore.

Growing up I never would have imagined that I would join the military after high school. Most of family members are Chinese immigrants and have no military background, which is why I chose this picture. In the picture are my classmates and myself at our Airman Leadership School graduation.

Typically for most teenagers, it is difficult to define who they are as a person... but not for me. I would not define myself in any particular context. I strive for the things I want in life, and do what it takes to accomplish my goals. There are multiple categories I particularly focus on for my own benefits such as, where I have chosen to attend college and the field I portray interest in majoring, how athletics have impacted my life, and the reflection of who I have been throughout my seventeen years of life. When analyzing those topics, I reflect on my past and use it as a reference for how I would like my future to turn out.

Some school lunches I am not Emily, but a large, furry feline with a row of canines for teeth. Fans rush over to snap a picture, and I happily acquiesce. In these short 30 minutes, I become everyone’s best friend. I am the school’s mascot, the beloved bearcat.