Personal Essay: Positive Influences On Personal Identity

There are two different dimensions of our identities: ethnicity and race. Ethnicity refers to one’s belonging to a specific cultural, or racial group that makes up culture, race language, and/or place of origin. For example, one can be African-American but have different ethnicities, one African-American and the other African-Caribbean decent. Race is a social construct that can be changed over time. Historically, referring to its specific characteristics one possesses based on: ethnicity, religion, or language; today's its classified solely based upon the color of one’s skin. Nevertheless, ethnic and racial identities are important and instill a sense of belonging and identifying with that specific group through attitude, behaviors. Moreover,

For years people have gone back and forth on what your identity means. Some say it is how you carry yourself and others say it is based on your cultural background. These two arguments are both valid, but is not giving the benefit of the doubt to the individual in which is being considered by their identity. Although most cultures are made up of languages and the traditions within we cannot limit an individual to be based off the language they speak. On the cultural aspect that does not apply necessarily because culture makes up only a part of your identity, whereas language is a source of communication. These are two factors people confuse each other with when thinking on the identity plane. Culture and identity are under the same umbrella

One aspect of my identity which has shaped my life tremendously, is being the only natural born citizen born into a family composed entirely of immigrants. My family, including my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and further extended relatives all immigrated to America from Albania. For some of my family, like my grandparents, they immigrated here when they were already very old, for others like my sister, this happened when they were only two years old. My parents immigrated to America with my sisters when they were middle ages, and I was born here soon after. Out of all of the large family that I have, I am the only one of all of us, who was born in America. This is an aspect of myself which has made me grow and shape into the person I am. It has affected my identity and life in many ways that I have come to realize and many that I’m sure I have yet to understand.

Identities are largely derived from the roles individuals play within society. When I think about my identity as an individual I predominantly think about external factors such as my gender or skin colour. For me, being largely a part of the dominant culture within Australia, I found it increasingly difficult to reflect on what has made me the person I am today.

Many people throughout the world have wondered what makes us us. Due to this they ask themselves questions and think about the situation. All of this relates to what is personal identity? Personal identity is the characteristics of what a human being is. Personal identity deals with philosophical questions about ourselves, for example Who am I? How do I look? When did I begin? What happens to me when I die? The argument that I will make in my paper will be that personal identity consists of three parts: body, memory, and soul. The premises for this topic are the following: the body is what we see and others see which let's us know who the person is by their body characteristics, thanks to the memories from the past it makes us have an

Identity - what does one’s identity mean? Is it where you are from? Is it the culture of your ethnicity? One’s origins? Maybe it is the language one speaks. I suppose Identity is just a given – something that’s handed down at birth, and thereafter is rarely a second thought on the minds of most. But for some of us, who don’t belong to a single particular group, identity is a question that develops over time. The opportunity to choose who we are, our innermost spirit is something I began to appreciate.

The second identity that has meaningfully impacted my life is race. I am white and this part of my identity has given me privileges that I primarily go through life unaware. Being a part of the majority, it is vital to recognize and acknowledge my privilege, but also be comfortable with my whiteness. Coming to that point has a few steps. The reading defines this process as “Majority Identity Development,” and it is composed of four steps; unexamined identity, acceptance, resistance, and redefinition & reintegration. Currently, I am transitioning between resistance and redefinition & reintegration. I am very comfortable with my whiteness, but I have a hard time being proud of my whiteness. This internal battle I have within myself is the biggest drawback of my racial identity. That being said, the benefits that my racial identity privileges me with far exceed any drawbacks. I have never been discriminated against because of my skin and I have never faced systematic oppression. I probably never will. Trying to fathom the exact extent of challenges that people of color face is almost impossible. The only way to solve these issues is exposure to other racial identities, education, and discussion.

To begin, an awareness of identity is extremely important in one’s personal life. In Communication between cultures by Larry A. Samovar, it is stated that identity is, “A person’s self-definition as a separate and distinct individual, including behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes” (215). Later in the text it is claimed that identity is a, “…concept of who we are…” (215). Identity plays a significant role in how we perceive things and why we act in the ways that we do. It is also an accumulation of our values, morals, beliefs and even simpler things such as hobbies. With that, it is essential that one is aware of their identity to ensure that they live a happy, fulfilled life.

Identity is the concept of knowing yourself by following a lineage and other factors that make a person (Korfmacher, 25). In most cases of identification, individual is supposed to follow his or her background and affiliate with a group. In this case, a group can be family, tribe, nation, culture, and many others. As already mentioned, many people find it easy to identify with a group, but this is not the case of many people as well. Some individuals have struggled with what is commonly known as an identity crisis. There are many factors that have led to such unfamiliar cases, and the cases are unfamiliar because everybody is expected to affiliate with a group. The basic group a person can identify with is a family which gives an

In the United States, diversity is a big issue as people from different parts of the world reside here. A few years back, I was used to being in a classroom with students who had a common race, age group, and for most cases a common language as myself. However, when I moved to The United States, I started attending classes that had only myself with a different race. This wasn’t a challenge at the beginning because I was trained with the ideology that people are equal. As time passed by, I realized that even though I had that mentality, not everyone around me agreed with me. Like they say, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions,” which is why some people can be biased about racial diversity. While at Wayne County Community College District, in a Microbiology class in which I was the only colored person, a guy refused to let me sit next to him for a lecture and when asked what his reasons were, he said he can’t sit next to me because I’m black. I was hurt, but I decided that I let myself get trampled on just because of the color of my skin. I refused to be discouraged by a biased person and fudged ahead. He was condemned for saying such, but at the end of the day, he only spoke his mind. I’m very positive that so many colored people go through that every single day of their lives at their job sites, school, church, trains, and others.

Identity is very difficult to fully comprehend, but it is vital to the purpose of every man, woman, and child that has lived and ever will live on the earth. As precisely expressed by Erik Erikson, “In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.” As defined by Merriam-Webster, identity is “The distinguishing character or personality of an individual.” However, this definition falls short of the true meaning of the word, as it does not openly state the deciding factor for the perception of a person’s identity. For this reason, it is necessary to redefine the word in order to properly convey its meaning to those that do not fully understand it, as well as clarify by whom it is ascertained. Identity is how one perceives oneself, based primarily on the behaviors exhibited by this person.

Identity defines the fact of being who and what the person or thing is. It helps a person to distinguish or identify their characteristics and personality such as language, school, traditions, and culture. Normally, it is the assumption of a certain person that he or she use to do and believe. The purpose in discussing about identities may increase other people’s knowledge about who and what you are. It is a way to expressed and advocate people the things they misinterpret about your character and personality.

In the process of determining who I am, I discovered there are few components I consider key to my identity. Elements such as sexuality, gender, and ethnicity are less important to me as my idea of self could be applied to many combinations of the aforementioned. Instead, I have come to recognize that the components key to my identity have less to do with the physical traits I was born with and more so to do with the values I possess and my own cognition. My capabilities, upbringing, faith, and culture are core to how I define myself and are, in my opinion, the key components of my identity. Who I am as a person has also changed over time and a variety of influences have had an impact on my development. The way I see it, my identity is an ever-changing construct of interconnected components, each with their own unique or shared influences.

Being a mixed race woman in the united states is a small part of my character, identity allows me to become my person while also being able to relate to others who share similar aspects to their characters. Being mixed race has allowed me to experience multiple cultures, this had created a new identity to open up opposed to in the past when cultural aspects of the race were more commonly singular. The 21st century has created a foundation for a new generation of racial identity. Identity is the core to individual life; the identity of race is there with me from birth and follows throughout my entire lifetime.

A person’s identity is a key factor in the role they ply within themselves and within the world. If a person doesn’t like their identity or there are internal conflicts, then this person may have issues with their self-esteem, resulting in a low value of life (Phinney & Chavira, 1992). This can affect his/hers role in society and how productive they re within their own life. A person’s concept and acceptation of their identity is very important. My identity starts with my family and their history. These were my beginning influences in the person I am today.