Personal Essay: What Is My Cultural Identity?

I was so excited for basketball season to come around, I just couldn 't wait! While I was waiting for our instructor for my Phys Ed class, I overheard a conversation between two girls. They were talking about how excited they were to start practicing volleyball, I suddenly got a lump in my throat from being so nervous. I knew nothing about volleyball, but one thing I did know was that the Phys Ed class I was in, wasn 't only for basketball, it was for all sports and because volleyball was the first played sport in our school season, that 's what we would

Sports have been apart of my life for many years. I have been actively involved in volleyball and softball throughout my lifetime. I started playing these sports at a young age and fell in love with the sports and have been playing them ever since. I love to play volleyball, but softball is my passion. As a three year letterwinner and playing the shortstop position, I have faced many challenges.

Every single day, society tries to define my cultural identity. I struggle trying to set myself apart from the norm but, being a modern American teenage girl, I find myself being influenced by what is considered “cool.” It attempts to make me the “perfect” version of myself. But I am not what society wants me to be.

After some time I thought about it and realized it was a lesson to keep in mind. The lesson was that sometimes you have to work at things harder than others to achieve your goals. I know now that my volleyball skills may not come as easily as it did for other people but I can still be as good as them I’ll just have to work a little harder to achieve my goal. This doesn’t only go for volleyball but anything else in life.

To make things a bit more complicated my high school coach had been my coach my entire softball career. He knew how I thought, how i played, and really molded me into the player I am today. I soon graduated from my little league summer softball to the competitive nature of highschool ball. As a freshman I knew I was going to be overlooked. Too much of my surprise I was placed on varsity for my pitching abilities.

My determination to get better and overcome my obstacles paid off my senior year when I awarded second-team

So when the first day of the season came, I went to the first practice. After the first I wanted to quit. My whole entire body was sore and I was exhausted. I stuck it out and realized that the sport isn 't bad at all. So next season I really tried hard and became Toll Gate High School 's first Division

I have played volleyball for six years now. Our volleyball season can revenue three months longer. This past season I was on the junior varsity team. In the upcoming season I will be playing on the varsity team. These teams prepare myself for my future because they help me learn how to collaborate with others.

Do I know who I am? Am I who I think I am? What makes me, me.? There’s a lot to know, and still so much more to explore and learn about myself. There are three main aspects about my life, that symbolizes who I am as a person. My cultural identity is based upon values, appearance and my life itself. I love who I am, and who I am becoming. My happiness and intelligence is what makes me stand out from others. I’ve always put my best foot forward and make the best decisions for myself. I am half Indian, Caucasian, European & Mexican on my mom’s side of the family. On my dad’s, I am Half Jamaican on my dad’s side of the family. Both of my parents taught me different ways around life and what is expected of me. But the three things that sums up my cultural identity are food, fashion, and family traditions.

There is no denying that people consider me a decent player, but that doesn’t mean that I’m the best. There is a vast amount of better players that are even younger than me training to the maximum of their capabilities. I discovered something new, and my drive to become a better player and person came with it. The sport has taught me that not everything will always be what I initially expected, but that shouldn’t stop me from reaching my goals. For example, my team and I had won three consecutive district titles for our school.

The background of my cultural identity I am an African American female but that isn’t all there is to know me for. I am an African American girl who is very interactive with my religion and also my culture. Cultural identity can be hard to explain because some people don’t know what’s really in their culture and they fail to see , and understand it. I know what my cultural identity is because of my ethiopian flag, the baked macaroni, and the movie the lion king.

Throughout my experiences in this course so far, I have had many opportunities to reflect on my own past and have begun to better understand my own cultural identity. It has been much more difficult to wrap my head around than I would have predicted it to be because so many things play into the construction of an identity that it can be hard to look at all of those separate pieces together. My cultural identity, like all others, is more complicated than it first appears. I identify as a white person, a woman, an American, a gay person, and a feminist, just to name a few. While all of these labels carry with them stereotypes and expectations, they also interplay with the cultural influences I was subject to throughout my childhood. So, in looking at my cultural identity, I am examining both my own labels and what they mean to me and layering on top of that cultural influencers that operate within my life and how the interplay between these layers works.

I was not supposed to be on varsity, but since I was at every summer workout and studied the sport for the upcoming season I earned a spot. When we went to start practice I was starting on both defense and offense and I felt unstoppable. Two weeks went by and we had our first scrimmage against the hale center. I

I felt that I was the worst on the team and that because I was so terrible, no one would like me. After only one practice I was ready to give up. I did not want to put in the effort. Fortunately, my parents forced me to continue with the team. I arrived the next day with an intense

Self-identity is defined as the recognition of one's potential and qualities as an individual, especially in relation to social context. In other words, self-understanding. Finding self-identity is more more difficult for some people than others. In the autobiography Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker, the author reflects on her identity as a mixed raced individual which is illustrated through Walker’s reflections. People define themselves in many different ways. For instance, some define themselves by their talents, hobbies, race, religion, color, gender, culture, sexual orientation, and/or age. What is your identity?