Student Identity Research Paper

The concept of Identity is complex through the exploration of relationships and a sense of belonging. This is explored within Tim Winton’s short stories, ‘ Neighbours’ and ‘Big World’, and in Robert Walker’s poem ‘Okay, Let’s be Honest’. Identity can change and evolve depending on belief, change, language and shifting influences.

Most people, unless they choose to be an outsider, want to be considered “cool.” Whether it’s to fit in with a peer group, or clique, or to impress someone in particular, like a member of the opposite sex, or a potential mate. Or possibly to gain something from an individual for financial or social gain (see “Scamming”).

Identity is what defines us as a person. Everyone one on earth has their own unique identity. To showcase my identity, I created a collage of images and descriptive words, called an identi-kit. This identi-kit shows what I feel like is my identity to myself and the others. My identi-kit identifies me as a mixed martial artist. The identi-kit has images of a deadly shark with mixed martial arts gloves on that say mixed martial arts on the front and fight shorts with the words competitor and warrior on them. It also has descriptive words like “killer instinct” and “fight” which describe my spirit. There are three assumptions that come to question when asking about one’s identity. The first is if you were born with this

High School culture has changed since the “old days.” Students from all grades are not only striving for academic success, but also participate in many extracurricular activities as outside forces continue to impact social life. With this comes the typical struggles of students figuring out who they are, and what kind of person they want to become as college becomes a daunting factor.

As an active member of the LGBTQIA+ community at DePaul and at home, I know quite a few trans* people, or at least more than most, and the one thing I am most concerned about is being a good ally. I’m embarrassed to say that only since arriving at DePaul I’ve begun to look more into how any of my words or actions may come across as hurtful or as microaggressions. I’ve had issues with my gender identity in the past, primarily because the concepts of masculinity and femininity are so antiquated and subjective, but I truly have no way of understanding the depth of oppression that people of the trans* community experience. The expression of my gender is fairly inconsistent and many people have labeled me androgynous and I have considered agender (someone whom identifies as being without gender) but I’m fairly comfortable (not perfectly) with my current identification. So everything from gender misidentification and discrimination due to the fact that I no longer repress myself by dressing and presenting myself in an overly feminine way has led to some really crappy stuff. Regardless, I have had so many benefits and rights granted to me simply because of my cisgender status to the point where it made it difficult for me in the past to see them. People usually use my correct pronouns without asking, I have bathrooms available to me, going to get medical help isn’t a production in which I have to be concerned about

In the summer time of 2015, it was shown in a CNN article that “two-thirds of Americans were in favor in gay marriage” soon to become a law change in most states to make it acceptable for people of the same sex to live together as partners and live the life they wish to as a married couple. This quick acceptance in our country shows the urgency of openness to everyone around, prior to the summer of 2015 an issue that our country faced was the issue of acceptance of others that would classify themselves as a member of the LGBTQ community. As the campus of Southeast Missouri State University constantly breaks new records of enrollment and students choosing to live on campus the universities new President is embarking on a new way to market the university, diversity. As the acceptance with members in the LGBTQ community, more and more students are opening up at home, expressing and or finding out their true selves in their college years. Limiting the residence halls to same birth sex only is limiting the growth as individuals of the new students who come in that might be included or interested in the LGBTQ community. Some students are afraid to come out expressing themselves, having the opportunity to room with a person who is of the opposite gender or “trans” can be very beneficial. Like in the article “So Roomie, Let’s Talk” students don’t always understand one another’s diversity which can lead to some very terrible things. “Bullying peaks in middle school and decreases in high school but can continue in college.” Students are constantly facing peer pressure and judgment in the story by Slotnik the two roommates barely communicated amongst each other, once the truth came out about one of the roommates the others life soon ended.(Slotnik) If the campus would allow its students to choose everything some students' identities might be

On the night that I attended, the topic of the evening was on transgender issues; various members came forward to discuss their current concerns, as well as parents of transgender children seeking advice from the LGBTQ community. Overall, I was impressed with the support structure present, and how comforting the meeting was for people who were experiencing a vast range of emotional turbulence.

To start I want to share about how this experience was actually enjoyable and if I had the opportunity I would possibly attend another one or one of a similar nature. My first expectation was that this was going to be an event where a bunch of adults sat around and asked each other questions about how times have changed and how it has affected certain groups. To my surprise when I get there I realized that the audience was a mix of adults who were there to strengthen their understanding of what social justice is and how it is happen in today’s society. There were also a decent amount of college kids there as well. There were some who were there representing an organization that they were part of or some even were just there to have their voice heard.

The context of our identity and belonging can we viewed in various ways, which may cause our identities to change within multiple contexts. For example, context can range from how an individual acts around their families and work colleagues to how they act around their close friends and partners and also the setting an individual is in.

Our perception of our identity is constantly changing, the groups we belong to, the people we talk to and the way we connect with others help to form our identity. There is one thing we all have in common despite our individual identities, is the need to belong. There’s no obligation to belong to only one group, you can belong to many. An individual can belong to many groups, which will then create multiple identities; hence our understanding of identity is never constant. Belonging to a loving family, group of caring friends that help us to develop our own sense of self. However, belonging can have a negative side. For example our families might have an expectation of us to do something that might alter our ambitions and interfere with

To be an American is to have traits of freedom the thing that the founding fathers counted on is to have the will to speak freely and to have the will of religion in the constitution it say that every citizen should have life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This impacts and brings everyone from different places to help create a society that is free. The founding fathers also counted for the people to speak for what is right. The reason is because this helps out on what the people want instead of the government wants this goes to show that the people matter and that is what makes a person happy and also makes a person feel like they have the pursuit to be happy.

There are numerous factors that either make up or restrain the self-identity of a person or an individual. Culture, in addition to family traditions, is one of the factors that affect the self-identity of an individual. When growing up, the environment around affect the personality, values, as well as, beliefs of an individual. The environment includes friends, family members, and the people that affect the life of an individual. So, if the environment is negative, then an individual will have low self esteem.

Key Findings The documents reveals that the results point to a significant association between discrimination and ethnic identity among adolescents. The information in the document shows. It also mentions that this will affect them into their adulthood and possibly affect them for life. It slows there socialisation with people that are not from their ethnic background because they don’t feel comfortable associating with them. They may feel that because they have experienced discriminated before from other people that it may happen again if that person is not from their ethnic background. Although

“In order to be a girl, one must dress elegantly, otherwise they are not considered feminine or “ladylike”. When I was 12 years old, I was asked to join a beauty pageant and they asked for a cute picture of me. At first, I was ecstatic and honored, until I was told to wear an extremely short dress, high heels, and a plethora of make up. In this case, I felt as if my gender and physical traits were being questioned. I am more of a sporty, simple, and casual dress kind of person, not a “girly girl”. Deep down, I felt out of place. As a result, I questioned whether or not I was masculine or feminine. If I am athletic and into sports, does that make me masculine and not feminine? I came to a solution. Maybe physically I dressed masculine, but emotionally I was

Over the course of my life I have had many life experiences which have made me who I am today. When I was in my middle childhood, most of my life revolved around playing and having fun. I did not have to put forth effort in hardly any area of my life or work hard in order to achieve specific goals. As time went on however, my own life experiences began to have an effect on me, and shape the person I am today. My life started to change the most during middle childhood when I was around the age of seven years old. At this point in my life, I had to adjust to several big changes.