Personal Narrative: My Social Identity

Identity is what makes a person unique. It is the soul and the essence of a human being. People are not born with a fixed identity. Identity is inherently dynamic; it changes and evolves over time. A person’s identity is ultimately shaped by their decisions. My identity is different from those who surround me. I create my own identity.

Identity is a complicated and unclear concept that has no one definition. Nonetheless, identity plays a key role in the formation of our “true” selves. Identity is free formed, ever-changing and wildly different to diverse people. Making sense of oneself- who one is, was and may become, is the basic component of identity. When defining one 's identity there is no singular place to start. Identities are wide varieties of traits, characteristics, social roles and relationships that define who we are. It orients us and provides us with tools that will in turn shape and mold ourselves for as long as we live.

When I immigrated to the US, I struggled with my identity, unsure of my place in my new home. This feeling was further intensified with sense of loneliness I experienced when I began community college. For a while, I tried my hardest to fit in but my accent and dress were an indication that I was not from here. In order to avoid the awkward bigoted questions and remarks that would make me feel that I did not belong here, I spoke less and shortened my interactions with others.

All things considered, I do consider myself today, to have a strong sense of self, and understanding of my own personal identity. The phases and circumstances of my adolescent years shaped me to be the strong independent woman I am today, but withstanding this journey, there were some aspects of my identity that I had considerable struggles with. As stated in earlier passages, my internal struggle with my intellectual self was a difficult and long battle, and although today I sit here writing a paper for a graduate school course (something 6 years ago was not an option) I still struggle with the drive to make right my academic failure of my past. Like my academic struggles, another internal identity conflict I tussled with for a very long was my racial and ethnic identity.

“Someone forgot to take a shower.” Two pairs of eyes immediately looked over at me. My first day of sixth grade was full of many microaggressions and passive aggressive chuckles. “No, but actually, who smells like that?” Attending a predominantly white school in the suburbs of Minnesota attenuates you to that kind of stuff. “Is it true Ethiopians eat food with their hands like monkeys?” Little did I know that these microscopic insignificant interactions had a greater impact on my awareness of my own identity than anyone else. I stood five feet tall, with my dark brown skin, and wore my hair into two puff balls, one on each side. I already stood out. The strong smell that surrounded my entire body is what made me stand out even more. Middle

When I pondered all of the character traits that I retain, a prominent attribute that recurred to me was that of independence. I have been called

I always knew my identity was one that speaks that I am very compassionate towards others and have great patience, but it wasn’t until the impact of one little girl that made me realize I hold the interest in wanting to give back to the community by helping others who are incapable of helping themselves.

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.

Identity. Who we are. How we define ourselves. Imagine taking away something that defines you. You’re left feeling “who am I?”

The majority of people find it natural to separate what they believe from who they are as an individual. They are able to draw conclusions from what they believe to be true about the world and have separate experiences that they allow to define them. However, I am very intentional about not allowing experiences to define what I believe to be true or allow it to carry much weight in defining me as an individual. In a perfect world, I would rather allow my experiences to be an expression of what I believe.

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.

The final social entity with which I identify, that I will be discussing in this paper is my gender, being a female. As I mentioned in the introduction of this paper this is really the only social entity with which I identify, that could lead me to be oppressed. Although in Canada, women’s rights have made huge improvements, there are still inequalities between the two genders, such as the existing wage gap. However, in reference to my own life I have not experienced substantial oppression because of my gender so far. The reason for this could be because living in Canada, women are more or less treated as equals in most social institutions, it could also be because my generation of people whom I spend most time with were not raised with the

One thing that I feel everyone should know about me, to really understand who I am, would be what I do with music in my life. I think that the kind of music people listen to defines them more than what that person could ever put into words.

There are very different emotions and parts that make you who you are.Things that make me up are, I’m very active and athletic. I’m not the most social person but I enjoy

I do not know. The question of who I am becoming is something that is unanswerable due to my own personal lack of knowledge. My life and the people who surround me constantly change. As a teenager growing up in our current American society, the possibilities of how we want to look and act seem to be endless yet, labels are constantly being put on us. High school constantly tries to change you. Many of us struggle just to avoid living the typical high school cliché while other thrive from it. There are students that will peak and some that will plummet. We are becoming adults but in different forms and attempting to put who I am developing into in words can be extremely difficult. Our values, identities, and beliefs can vary and adapt within those four years or stay the same. Personally, I do not have a clue of who I am or who I am going to be. I have yet to experience that “ah, ha!” moment and many never do. Experiences such as traveling and being a camper at CYO have left me admiring and recognizing the good in the world and discovering the type people who I want to surround myself with. Ultimately, high school sucks to say the least and experiencing it will hopefully not negatively impact who I will become in the future but as I currently live through it, the major event is surviving it.