Personal Narrative: A Problem With Your Own Identity

What is identity? The definition as a person’s own sense of whom they are, which their past define them. Identity is very important in our society, no matter your social status. I can attach identity to belonging to something or place. As human race, we feel the need to belong to a group or place. Because belonging to a group or place, give us the sense of identity.

I quickly swallowed my homemade authentic Indian food leftovers and gulped down my chocolate milk. Looking down at my watch that read 11:28am, I knew that I only had two minutes until my most favorite part of the day: recess. This particular day in 5th grade, I had run a lap around the playground before getting the rest of recess to myself. As I started walking for my warmup, another student ran up and said, “My parents said that your people caused 9/11.” Completely caught off guard, I held back the tears in my eyes and tried to shake off his comment. I had never encountered something like this.

My is name Kyra Alexandra Avila Kepfer. Kyra is my mom’s name and Alexandra comes from my dad’s middle name “Alexander”. My Dad’s last name, Avila, is from Spain and Guatemala. My mom 's last name, Kepfer, is German. My mom was originally going to call me Katherine Andrea. My names meaning is light, throne, and sun. Since my mom’s name is also Kyra my family calls me Kyrita which is my name in spanish. At times my mom will call me “Alex” which is short for Alexandra. My mom has always called me that and my family has called me Kyrita for as long as I can remember. Many strangers pronounce my name Kira which kinda gets annoying after a while but it 's understandable. To my family my name means a fun, lovable, and active 15 year old girl who loves to spend time with family and friends. I like my name because its original and not common. The fact that my name means the sun is interesting because it 's so unique and bright, which is how I want my future to be. If i had the chance to change my name i wouldn 't because i 'm used to it and i feel like it defines me as a person. I’m grateful that my mom named me Kyra and i 'll always embrace it.

One aspect of my identity that has shaped my life experience and the way I see the world is my race. I am an African- American who has Nigerian descent from both parents. Growing up African American is hard for many of us, but we always come together to help each other out. We get judged for our skin color, religion, sexuality, and economic status. When I was younger, I always thought about what other people would say about me and how I looked. Even though it was hard seeing how other races portrayed my race, I have learned to embrace my skin color and not let anybody judge me. The society believes that African Americans are lazy, uneducated, and violent. Things people say about me and my race only make me want to prove myself to them that I am proud of my race and would never change myself for anybody.

My Identity connects to my culture because it describes the way I look and the point of view I have on certain topics. My culture is the Native American tribe, Wampanoag and I am also Mexican. I have some facial features and body structures from both sides of the family like: most of my family has brown or black hair, we are taller than the average human, and our faces have an oval shape. Some topics that my family has taught me from both sides of the family is, family always sticks together and always comes first, and If you see bad things going on in the world, always try to help and do whats right. From my Dad’s side of the family, I learned tons about survival skills and on my Mom’s side I learned a lot about traditions. An example from

Mothers describe motherhood like a cliff: It’s like a leap of faith that no one knows if she’ll be able to survive. The moment my obstetrician entered the room with a big smile on her face and stated that she had some great news for me; my heart instantly dropped. She raised her hands in the air and said, "You and Anthony are pregnant!" After staring at her in complete disbelief, I started crying. I was told to schedule an ultrasound and sure enough I was seven weeks pregnant. After leaving the office, I instantly had the selfish sensation of wanting more time to prepare myself. Now that I’m pregnant with my first child, I keep hearing about all the things I’ll never do again: sleep four solid hours, wear a bikini, travel,

Identifying my identity is a not a very easy thing for me because a few of my strong beliefs have flaws and loopholes. If someone’s reasoning for doing something I believe to be wrong my strong opinion on my belief is questioned. My identity is a work in process like many other and more times than not I do not even know who I am. I have always believed in the practice of accountability for your words and actions as well the act of showing people the respect they should be given.

Strolling into my last hour of the day like any other, only to find that there was a substitute, another day of busy work instead of reviewing for the test. I sat in my assigned seat in the back of the class as usual, while the sub introduced himself.

I am a white American female. Another term that can be used to describe my race is caucasian. Some characteristics that come with my race include a fair skin tone and naturally light colored hair. I do not think that anyone can truly be a “pure” race because family trees expand genetically within multiple races, especially in current times. People of all races are reproducing and creating a more mixed environment than ever before.

Identity is a very in depth topic that explores someone’s inner self, simply putting it; identity is what makes you the way that you are. I have honestly never pondered this question in such depth. So receiving this essay, it was bittersweet, I have never pondered this question before, but on the other hand, being the age that I am it is important to understand my identity so this is a good opportunity to do so. While pondering this question, I have found that my identity consists of different elements that contribute to who I am. These elements include my religion, my character traits, talents, environment, and my aspirations and my passions. These elements influence the choices I make that strengthen and broaden my identity.

Growing up in America with Taiwanese-American parents has shaped my life and my personality. In Georgia there are little to no areas with Taiwanese influences and culture. Therefore when we were younger, my sister and I went to school together in an area where there weren’t many Asian families residing.

My individual identity is formatted to show what I do and what makes me different because everyone has different opinions about their identity, but that just shows how we're all unique in some ways. I placed my specific sports and activities like baseball on because they make up who I am. The music albums I listen to that make me a part of a collective identity of other that share the same interests in music style as do I. Sports also tie into a major part of my collective identity because they play a tremendous part in my life that I can talk about and share my opinion with friends and family. To represent my national identity, the pictures I had shown are famous parks and museums that I had visited a to because these landmarks represent a

As the daughter of immigrants, I had grown up with a strong idea of what my culture was and how I identified myself. This identity had influenced my beliefs and the value I believed my parent’s culture held. My background had revolved around being raised by parents who had both spent a majority of their lives in Vietnam before moving to the States. This meant I was going to be influenced by the Confucian ideas which remained prominent in Eastern and South Eastern Asian culture as well as the Buddhist religion which my mother followed. All of these traits along with the environment I grew up in had affected how language had become a major pillar in my culture and identity, continuing to play a part in my relationships and actions today.

This is the stage when you form your own individual identity and separate from the oppression based system of hierarchy. This is the stage I developed through the help of my mother. Even when I was bad she would install the power of knowledge in me. She always installed on me that I had to go to college. I went through this stage when I stopped associating with my high school friends. I notice that they had nothing going on with their lives and were dragging me down with bad influence. Once I decided to go to college I stopped all contact with them. Going to college changed my perception on life. I know that with the proper education I can be anybody I want to be and I can have an equal chance in society. I stopped feeling like I was oppressed

I hope all is well. It has been two weeks since your email, so I thought I follow-up with you, give you some info for my siblings and update you about my new certification.