Personal Narrative: You Are You

My identity can be defined by moments in my life. Moving to Canada, learning English and going to high school are three major moments in my life. Going through these experiences have changed the person in me and made me more confident, stronger, better in everything.

Identity is a complex ideal that everyone struggles with. Consequently, people often will not act as who they are due to a fear of being ridiculed. To me this is such a ridiculous time waster, instead this time people waste on being someone else could be used for much more meaningful memories. Society makes people feel like they have to fit a mold, yet I personally have learned from my dad that it is a necessity of life to accept who you are.

Culture and identity are inextricably linked concepts. Identity is formed by your culture and in turn your identity shapes the respective cultures of the groups you identify with. I belong to many different cultural groups, and my identity is a complex web of competing and conflicting beliefs, experiences, and characteristics. My identity is not only complex, but also dynamic, as the experiences I have change who I am.

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

Currently I am a year away from a bachelor's degree, and on my pathway, to my degree, I have written countless papers, therefore I figured writing an autobiography was going to be simple, but I was surprised at how much I struggled to gather information about myself. It isn’t every day that people confront me and ask me who I really am or who I want to be. It isn't like I can open a textbook and read them the answers, or flip over my flash cards to find the answer. The reason the answer is so hard to come up with is due to the reality that life makes us forget who we are, and when we do take the time to reflect on it, it’s like uncharted territory or a chapter in a textbook you neglected to read before a test. Personally I frequently get caught up in the everyday motion of life to the point where I

Everyone has an identity, and it is our identity which defines who we are and our place in society. Our identities help other people to draw conclusions about who we are, as well as, spotlight values and beliefs. Our identities have the power to positively or negatively affect how we live our lives, as well as, have the power to affect how we interact socially. Identities can be shaped and molded by the communities in which we live, the schools we attend, churches where we worship, the sports in which we participate, our race, gender, and physical features. Many of my friends, family, and acquaintances, describe my identity as being strongly influenced by my disability, my family values, and my fiercely independent nature. Prior to writing

Since being adopted, I have continued to try to find more about who I am and what I am supposed to do. Although I have been asked many times when I found out and how it makes me feel, it is still a taboo topic to talk about because of the little information I know. I was admitted to the orphanage after being found at the bottom of a staircase in the middle of a village square. After ten months of being admitted, I was adopted, but I almost did not make it because of a high fever and infection. As a baby, I did not want to hold any medicine that was given to me and because of this, a close family friend had to fly in some Western medicine so that I could have a chance at life. Since then it has been a challenge to find my place in this world

A majority of people I have spoken to despise running; the activity inducing a great deal of pain and wasting time are common reasons I hear. For me however, running has always been a part of my identity and it shaped me as the person I am today. Whether it comes to intense races or exciting games of tag, I feel a part of me glistens with joy whenever I put on my running shoes and get my feet moving. My interest from running goes all the way back from elementary school.

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

I just need to look around me to guess that most people, if not all of them, suffer through some sort of identity crisis, whether it is psychological, social, sexual, or another. But that knowledge doesn’t really help me answer that deceptively simple question: “How would you describe yourself?” Probably the most honest answer I have for you today is some long version of “I don’t know.” I am trying to find some answers to that question, though, and that’s something pretty new for me.

When meeting new people, that is the most common question I receive. My tan complexion and my facial features would lead someone to believe that I am Filipino but the kinky curly hair that sits atop of my head would lead someone to believe otherwise. So the question remains: what am I?

Yes, you are right. It really kicked in as of this year. This is the first year that I've kind of gone to another level. I'm the guy in town who did a lot of indie stuff. I'm very well-known in the independent film circuit 'cause I have this different way of being who I am. I started out on something huge. I did a couple of small things, and then I landed a role in I Spy with Eddie Murphy. My part was a supporting lead part in the movie. I worked with him for four months. To get that size of part, he had to approve my audition. And the first thing Eddie said to me when he met me was, "You real funny, man." And I was like, "Well, I can die now," 'cause I literally got what I wanted. It was the craziest thing in the world. It was great just

I fill many roles in my life, including but not limited to, brother, son, friend, and student. I strive to be the best at each of these roles as I can be, but at the same time remain true to my character. On my snowman, I have drawn images such as a basketball, a globe, and a taco. These are just a few things that I feel describe who I am. I am always doing my best to be who I am and not who others want me to see. As Shia Labeouf once said, “Your life is your life. Know it while you have it. You are marvelous.” Despite yelling things such as “Just do it!” in a similar video, Mr. Labeouf still manages to get a strong point across. I try to live by these principles, and know my life while I have it, and whenever I am feeling self-conscious, remember

My identity and purpose was shaped in my second year of high school, the best and yet the most trying time of my life. The winter of 2015 was the time I was taken out of my bubble in the north and was placed in a frying pan in the south. Moving into a foreign place is always hard and many people have similar stories about the adversity they faced but for me it wasn’t just the hard times that shaped me, the hard times that everyone goes through while moving allowed me to be malleable but the lessons taught to me by my family helped me reach a different outlook on myself and life in general. I remember that during the worst times I would look to the few people left around me that I felt I could trust; this was best evidenced in a day when I