Personal Narrative: My Identity

I grew up in rural Indiana with three brothers. Our family was a little different than most because all of us children had been adopted. The oldest of us, Andy, was two years older and had cystic fibrosis which meant he probably wouldn’t live to be 30 or more. The remaining three of us were biologically brothers. Triplets in fact. Our parents adopted all three of us together for some brave reason. I used to joke that there was a buy one get two free sale at the adoption agency and that I was the only one they actually wanted. It was never hidden from us that we were adopted, but it always left me feeling that I didn’t quite belong in certain family functions. I wanted to feel like I belonged in my environment. The military

The first object that represents my identity is my cross. The cross I wear is special to me because it was given to me by my Grandmother when I was 10 years old before I left Eritrea. It doesn’t just represent my religion, it represents who I am and where I came from. It helps me to not forget my identity as a person. Every time I’m about to give up or do something bad, I look at it and reminds me of my past and all the thing I have gone through to get to this point of my life. Essentially, you can say that its part of me and represent my past.

What is identity? Identity to me is how someone views themselves as well as how they

There is a time where you have a problem. A problem with your own identity. The way you look and act around people. Where you come from is what makes you look different from other people. How you act around people makes people think about you and wants to befriend you.

Every individual in society is shaped by several factors— particularly, their past. Within their past, there are memorable moments, this includes the calamities we all face throughout our lives. In fact, my own hardships have, too, impacted me immensely by shaping me who I am today. I have faced several forms of pivots and falls throughout my journey of maturity, including domestic violence.

One of the things that I struggle with in life is Identity. I have been questing God about seminary school, family, friends, work, marriage, kids and even the color of my skin. I come from a place where if you are a black man wearing a pair of jeans with a white tee shirt you are considered a thug, or if you have twist, dreadlock you are a thug. I come from a place where your father is not in your life and over 70% of he black man are raised in a fatherless home. Where most of uses are raised in the street because, them are the only man in our life that will pay use some attention. But in my case I was blessed to go home to a dad ever night even though I can’t tell you anything about my father for the simple fact that he never gave me a hung, kiss, tell me he loves me, spend any time with me, say anything positive, always talking to me and my mom like we are noting, even beat my mom and when you try to tell family about it they just look at me like am crazy.

How many different “hats” do we each wear on a daily bases. From our careers, to our family and friends we all have different identities that we claim and live out day to day. These identities help us define who we are. “When we identify ourselves, we draw on a host of different characteristics associated with various social groups to which we belong” (King 2012, pg. 429). My ornament is explaining the social identity through a snow-women and her many hats.

“Sweetheart I have always been identified for being a mother, sister, and a daughter, but never as me. In the midst of managing family, I was never able to build my own identity,” said my grandma who got married right after high school.

The memories in my life constructed me into who I am today. From a young age all my experiences have been merging together to form my strong and unique identity that I take pride in. In my eyes I see my identity and myself as a strong willed and a motivated individual that will stop at nothing to succeed. From what I can interpret my identity revolves around my faith and by the challenges I faced growing up and how I defeated them. Starting with a divorced family, then living with my struggling single mother and my older drug addict brother was a real conflict. Although, my identity wouldn’t be the same without that conflict. In that time period I found my passion that allowed me to stay strong and find myself in the pain which ultimately showed

What makes up an identity? Your friends, family, and culture can all play parts into your identity, but how can you show your identity to someone who isn’t you? By presenting the different sides of you, of course. My project illustrates the amused, serious, playful, and loving parts of me in different areas and situations. I had pictures of me with my friends, family, and some of. It displays my identity in multiple different fashions and therefore deserves an A.

Social Identity. It is what makes us whole and what makes up ourselves in our mind and how we are perceived in public. It is “Through the process of self- categorization or identification, an identity is formed, (stets and burke, 224). Social identity is “a person’s knowledge that he or she belongs to a social category or group”(stets and burke, 224). Self- categorization is “the self is reflexive in that it can take itself as an object and can categorize, classify or name itself in particular ways in relation to other social categories or classifications” (stets and burke, 224). No person is only made up of one social identity. It can vary from person to person what is your social identities but there is generally a lot that you are actually

Independent , strong, confident , words I wish I could use to describe myself. Growing up; I was raised in Bremerton, Washington. At a young age I learned to be independent, taking care of my younger sister and brother. While my Dad was in and out of prison, along with my Mom not straying far from that same path. At this time in my life I didn't know I needed help, at the age of 5 I thought it was completely normal to live with your grandparents, completely normal to see so much hate between a mother and father , where it was normal to spend more time watching my mom hide the bruises and scars, all while trying to restrain her tears from her kids. At the age of 5 I learned to be independent. Just a year later at the age of 6, my mom changed

' what makes me myself rather than anyone else is the very fact that I am poised between two countries, two or three languages and several cultural traditions' (Maalouf , A, 2000), which emphasise my identity and how this is an essential part to my identity. For example, I am an Indian, who wears salwar kameez ( traditional Asian clothes), who loves eating Asian curries with hand, who speaks Hindi and Punjabi with my parents and relatives (the most common languages spoken by an Indian), I am an Indian because I was born in India, an Indian who prays and visits the Gurdware (Sikh temple) every Sunday ,and lastly ' visiting others' such as cousins and relatives are considered a very important part of an Indian culture (Kenner et al, 2004).

I am Minnie Restivo, Daughter of Stephanie and Brian Ulen. My grandparents are Shelly Ard and Vern Jacques, Curt and Becky Ulen, Marilyn and Frank Ulen, finally George and Belinda Ard. I was born in Galveston, Texas but I have lived in Washington, Oklahoma, Texas, and even Tennessee for a short while. Even though I have lived in all of these places I have lived in Oklahoma and Texas for most of my life. I am lucky enough to have a kind family who will stand behind me in most all of my life decisions. My dream is to become a police officer to protect and serve.

The most important thing about me—the thing that determines the way I interact with others, view the world, and understand my identity—is that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I have spent my entire life in Wheaton, Illinois, a small, suburb that values image and success. I am grateful to live in a place with so many opportunities and genuinely caring people, and even more grateful for my parents’ intentional efforts to expose my sisters and I to the world outside the “bubble.” They sent us to public schools where we were able to interact with peers and teachers with different points of view, and they always made travel a priority for our family. We took trips to visit missionaries overseas and welcomed guests from around the world into our