The Eternal Question
Who am I? This has been the question almost every person asks of themselves. Philosophers have been trying to solve the great mystery for thousands of years. I am a husband, father and a grandfather. How did I get here? How did I go from being the wildly unpredictable preacher’s son to the respected head of a growing family? Is it my upbringing? Was it my military background? Is it choices made over my lifetime?
Our surroundings and things we are born with are an influence to our identity. I was born November 12, 1965 in Washington D.C. the son of a Catholic Deacon, blessed with health, a stubbornness, and intelligence. This platinum blonde with hazel eyes was born to cause trouble. As a boy, my mother always said that
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Religion has been a large influence on my life but not without cost. Living as the good catholic boy had me isolated from others due to spending my time in studies and religion. The culture of the 1980’s changed me, it was a decade of excess, and I fell into the mainstream. One day I realized it is not who I am, I was not living my life the way I wanted to. The military was what I needed. The military has a culture complete with structure, defined roles, consistency, and kindredship. Military culture allowed me to flourish and grow personally. The bonds I share with other veterans are very strong because of the shared set of customs, values, ideas, and beliefs (Latterell 9). Since coming to Kentucky, I have learned that the Mid-Atlantic region and Kentucky have great differences in culture. This regions culture is rich in tradition and family, values that are missing from the suburbs and city that are full of blasé faire attitudes towards others. My experiences in Kentucky have led me to be more involved with friends, keep my family close and encouraged me to go back to school. So has culture shaped my identity? The answer is yes and no. my exposure to religion, military service, and life experience is a part but not the sum of who I …show more content…
I firmly believe that individuals participate in and make decision regarding their identity (Latterell 11). During my teenage years, I rebelled and got in to loads of trouble. The choices I had made regarding who I had spent my time with and what I did for “recreational” activities were the root cause. What I learned from the trouble is as Christopher Pike said “...You think that you can't make mistakes, but there's going to come a moment when you realize you're wrong about that...” (Star Trek Into Darkness). The greatest decision I made in life was to join the United States Navy. I joined the Navy in 1983 and my experiences shaped me in many ways. I went from being a lowly seaman who swept, swabbed, and painted all day to a senior enlisted man who, for 6 hours a day, was in command of a carrier battle group during wartime. In 1988, I made the decision to make a career out of my military service and that choice that makes me the proud veteran I am. I fell in love and made the decision to marry my wonderful wife in 1985 and in 1986; we decided to start a family. Through thick and thin, we have been together almost 30 years and have found the joy of being parents and the greater joy of being a grandparent. After retirement in 2005, we moved to eastern Kentucky, this was a huge decision to move from our home of 20 years to start over. I wonder how different my life would be if I had not stayed in
As a person goes through life he or she may wonder “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose?” The objective of this paper is to allow me to reflect and critically analyze who I am as a person. In this paper, I will discuss my social location and identity, my life experiences and my privileges and disadvantages.
He strengthened his religious beliefs by going to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday evening. His parent impacted his life because they were people of strong faith. His father is a christian priest and his mother is also a church volunteer. His childhood activities, his peaceful religion, and his family all describe his early life growing into a Navy SEAL.
In fact, I believe culture changes the way others and the world views you because there will forever be stereotypes that make people form certain conclusions about you, which is illustrated in some stories I have read in class. I believe stereotypes will shape the way others think of you. An example of this is presented in a personal essay called “Two ways to belong in America”. On paragraph 6 it says “I was opting for fluidity,
In the military your views and way of life change which makes it harder to convert back to the original way of life. Veterans are consequently treated poorly and receive minimal help, but the help they do receive helps them tremendously. In studies, “social support is known to be protective for veterans, but our findings add the nuance of substantial obstacles veterans face in locating and accessing support, due to disconnection and unsupportive institutions” (Ahern 1). One of the best ways we treat vets is with social support, but can also be a dangerous task for helpers. This tells us some of the struggles and treatment that many veterans come along on their
My father had made some bad business deals and lost all of the family's money. When I was two years old, my dad went to debtor's prison. A few years later my dad went to the West Indies and never returned. Becoming a soldier, since my family didn't have any money, I saw the military as a great way to get a free education and to have a career. I entered the West Point Military Academy at the age of 18 and graduated in 1829 near the top of the class.
People throughout their lives are constantly discovering who they are and who they want to grow into. The same statement accurately describes Maya Johnson, a strong woman who wrote about her life in her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. As a little girl, her mother’s ex-boyfriend raped and she had to rediscover herself whilst navigating through the grim veil of trauma - a process that burdened her for many years. Throughout her life, she encountered many different people, some good, others bad, but they each helped her eventually discover her identity. ‘Identity’ is how people define themselves as a human being, and, therefore, nobody else can dictate it.
The environment in which an individual grows up in can affect life greatly. Our surroundings influence one’s personality, self-expression, and individuality, otherwise known as identity. Finding one’s true self is the most grueling stage of life and expectations of family and society make the process even harder. One’s true identity can sometimes clash with hopes of others, thus breaking tradition and/or family ties. Pressure to change will always be present, but staying true to uniqueness will prevail.
How others see you is influenced by material, social, and physical constraints. This causes a tension between how much control you have in constructing your own identity and how much control or constraint is exercised over you. How we see ourselves and how others see us differ in many ways, but is an important factor of our identity. “A Lesson Before Dying”,
Early in my life, religion shaped some of my beliefs, limited my free will because of its principles, and shifted my perception of reality because it added a new perspective of the world to my life that I was forced to believe. I also know that I do not have to sit in the same seat in my classes everyday because everybody else and I do not want to cause a disruption by changing my seat. However, there are many things that in my life that I have yet to link to the larger world. I am still subjected to these social forces and my sociological imagination is still being
As a Marine, I think that I saw how unfortunate family life can subsist within the infrastructure. Aside from a few senior enlisted during my eight years tenure, I cannot remember seeing a family that did not break up or which I believed would eventually break up. I have also experienced a lot of hardships that the military can place upon its members. As I exited the Marines and eventually began reconnecting with other military members, I noticed that the guys were not alright. Since I have often felt to be the “odd duck” amongst other military members and veterans, I also knew that this “out-of-steppedness” allows me to see life from another’s point of view, judge others less harshly, and act empathetically towards others—the qualities that are needed to give dignity to those of my community who need it most.
In my opinion, only when a person becomes an active participant can they make their way into making an identity theirs and also find something reinforcing about the
Some effects of being in the military were abrupt, and others occurred gradually over time. It seemed like every time I looked around the Navy was reshaping some aspect of my life. Life in the military has had multiple effects on me. One effect the military has had on me was that it gave me a greater appreciation for family. I enlisted
However, to what extent is our human relationship affected by our cultural identity? We are highly social animals, because relationships fulfill more than our psychological needs. To be specific, we are subconsciously dependent on one another, and so there is desire to pursue a healthy relationship with members of a community. Personally, when approaching elders, I instantly become aware of my posture, body language, and diction being projected. This approach is heavily influenced by my cultural identity, as in Korea, respecting elders is a fundamental aspect of Confucianism.
As I mature, my perspective of life and what it is to be a unique individual is ever changing. I believe that an individual’s environmental and surrounding contributes to their identity greatly. The culture in which one grows up in is a element that shapes one’s beliefs. When I was younger, my friends aided to shape my identity. My peers had a great influence on how I defined myself in early childhood because I deeply valued and cared about what others thought of me.
The teenagers here are often confused about the identities they choose. This often leads to frustration. They may even give up looking for their identities for a while. This is the period where some of the teenagers end up indulging in immoral acts. According to ("6.3 Adolescence: Developing Independence and Identity | Introduction to Psychology," 2015), the independence of thinking in this period requires the adolescents to determine their sense of right and wrong on their own.