Who I Am
Anonymous
Part A) National
Identity
Perhaps
there once was a day where the identity of Americans was more concrete and
unified. Maybe there was a day when
people knew what it meant to be an American and were proud to be one. Today, it seems as though that being “American”
is not sufficient enough; just saying that you are American is not a telling
clue as to who you are and what you believe in.
People now only identify with the parts of the media and culture that
they decide they want assimilate to.
There is more of a choice when it comes to deciding “who you are.”
Our
national identity is withering away because children are being forced to grow
up in a more self-sufficient lifestyle.
Life is no longer what it used to be like--the socioeconomic status of
your parents may not be the same one you end up living in as an adult. Less and less are families able to pass on
businesses or acres of land to their children because of the poor economy. Children are learning at a young age that
nothing will be handed to them and they are being taught to focus less on the
good of others, let alone of the nation, and focus more on the self. Society is continually breeding new
generations that are taught to be more selfish than the last.
This
harsh change in reality is not one that has to or even will remain with
Americans throughout the years. People
are given the opportunity to change the lives of others every single day. If more children are raised the way I was
raised or if more educators dream of teaching children what it means to be a
wholesome and generous American, than the national identity may find itself
weaving back into our lives. Instead of
focusing on the negative aspects and stereotypes of the American identity, people
should work toward creating a positive atmosphere in order to live more
fulfilled and satisfying lives.
Part B) Beautiful Life
My
life is nothing short of beautiful. I
have had my fair share of ups and downs but every rocky road and every
memorable day has in some way carved its way into my personal identity. While I am still on the path to finding
myself as a whole, I have a pretty solid idea of who I am at the core. My identity can be broken down into three
main categories--I am a daughter, a sister, and a friend.
I
am a “momma’s girl” with a strong presence of my father’s Italian blood. My mom is one of my best friends. She’s the one person I miss more than anyone
when I am away at school. She’s my rock
and my angel all in one. She has shaped
me into being a compassionate and generous young lady. My strong sense of empathy comes directly
from my mother; I can always “feel” the emotions of everyone and anyone around
me. These empathetic emotions make me the
understanding and thoughtful person that I am.
My father, on the other hand, has given me the irreplaceable traits of
being an Italian woman. I am loud and
proud of it. I can be outspoken,
defensive, and stubborn. And I will
never deny that to anybody, unless I’m offended or being stubborn. I can be high maintenance but that’s just
part of me wanting to live in a nice and clean environment. Some of these traits that make up my identity
may sound negative to some people, and at times, they can be, but I embrace
them and view them as a part of how I was raised and how I want to continue to
live.
I
am a sister to the most amazing brother and sister. I care for them in a way that only a middle
child could. My sister is two years
older than me, and my brother is two years younger than me, so I am smack-dab
in the middle. I worry about the both of
them as if they were my own children. I
am constantly thinking about what they are doing, where they are, whom they are
with and what time they will be home. I
want them to be safe at all times and more than anything, I want them to be
happy. I would jump through hoops just
to see them smile. Being a middle child
has definitely influenced my identity because it made me into a sharing,
loving, worried, and organized person.
I
am a friend and a confidant. My friends
are my world. The friends I’ve managed
to keep from my hometown since being out of high school and the friends I’ve
made at college over the past three years are comparable to the air that I
breathe. I need them just as much as
they need me and we have such an inseparable bond; I wouldn’t trade in one day
with them for all the riches in the world.
Part of my personable and friendly personality comes from just having
people like these around. These people
make me want to be a better person, they make me want to help others, and they
make me want to do great things in my life.
I get satisfaction out of knowing that I am dependable and that so many
people know and trust in me enough to come to me with worries. I want each one of my friends, near or far,
to know that at the end of the day, they are needed and loved by me. I always get teased for the amount of
pictures that I take with my friends and my response is, “I want to document my
life.” I want to take these memories,
these friendships, and these good times with me everywhere I go so that one day
when I have my own family, I can explain to them that it was these people and
these moments that influenced my identity.
I am corny and my heart is just too big for my chest. These friendships are the shoelaces to my
sneakers.
My
heart explodes with the love I have for my parents, my siblings and my friends. My entire identity has developed because of
these influences. I am a stronger,
happier, and healthier person inside and out.
I know my identity will be forever changing but for now, I am content
with who I am and where I am headed in life.
After all, life is beautiful.
Part C) America, the Beautiful
It
is unfortunate to me that the overall American identity is mostly negative
considering I see so much beauty all around me.
How can all of America be criticized and stereotyped in such horrible
ways when my life seems so uplifting and generally positive? The American identity should and needs to be
changed. There is no reason for us
Americans to feel ashamed or hated when going to other countries for vacations
or for work-related reasons.
The general
consensus is that America is full of dumb, ignorant, fat, lazy people who are
greedy and think they are better than everyone else. It is almost amusing to know that our country
is stereotyped like that yet, not one single person in my life in Rochester or
in my life in Fredonia fit into those appalling categories. Our identities are actually anything but
those stereotypes listed.
Every human being on this planet has
experienced a bad day or two so there is no reason why our bad days should define
our entire country. So what if not every
single American goes to school or has a 4.0?
Does every person in every other country earn Ph.D.’s? If the answer is no, then we should not be
considered dumb. We can all be a little
absent-minded or ignorant of other countries, peoples, and ideas that we do not
fully understand ourselves. Clearly, the
countries that would define the American identity as “ignorant” are displaying
some ignorance themselves considering everyone, all over, has a little bit of
ignorance in one area or another.
Instead of being stereotyped as dumb and ignorant, I think America
should be considered intelligent and still learning. There are millions of very intelligent people
in this country who do big things. We
have a strong government and even if they make choices that not everyone agrees
with, at least we don’t have a tyrant for a president. We are learning Americans. We are constantly learning about new people,
places, ideas and technologies. Teachers
are making efforts to inform their students about diverse cultures and
encourage their students to travel with an open-mind, ready to soak up all of
the new stimuli.
So what if there
are some chubby people walking around?
Being overweight should not define us.
In all of my twenty-one years of life, not once have I ever thought that
my weight is part of my identity. I
would never answer the question of “How would you describe your personal
identity?” with “skinny.” I cannot think
of any of my family members or friends that would answer with, “My identity can
be described as chubby.” Weight has nothing to do with identity rather physical
appearance so if people are going to categorize Americans as fat than they
could be categorized as shallow for only looking skin deep--then here we go
again, we’re in a game of cat and mouse.
Calling each other names because our feelings got hurt. If you looked past the physical appearance of
Americans, you’d see good people with good intentions and that should be what
defines us. It’s what inside that
counts.
Everyone in the
world at one point or another has been greedy in some way. Even I have been greedy before and I consider
myself to be a very generous and open-minded person. Sometimes life requires you to be a little
greedy and take a little more than you give.
I don’t see Americans walking around taking from every single person
they can, every chance they get, without ever giving back. If an American has worked hard to get where
they are, then they deserve what they earn and they deserve to spend it in any
which way they want. There are hundreds
and thousands of charities in America so to say that we are greedy is beyond
me. Just taking a walk around a grocery
store or a gas station, you’d see plenty of items that you could buy where some
of the proceeds go to a charity. If
giving to charities make us greedy then we’re greedy Americans.
I have met very
few people in my life that think they are better than everyone else and I can
almost guarantee that they do not feel that they are better than everyone else
in the entire world. As a country that
is mostly middle class, most Americans are raised knowing that there are some
below us and some above us but that we should treat all with an equal amount of
respect and kindness. Confidence should
not be mistaken for cockiness. We are
confident in our abilities to survive and thrive in this world--where’s the
harm in that? Americans might have a
hard outer shell but we are softies inside, we do care about the well-being of
others, we are understanding of the curves life throws people sometimes, and we
are always willing to give a hand to someone in need. Confident is a perfect word that can be used
to define the American identity because that’s just what we are--positive--that we can do well for ourselves and for others.
Why can’t America
be stereotyped as something more positive?
Why do stereotypes always have to be so negative? I think that has something to say about our
world in general; every country would rather focus on the bad parts of everyone
else’s country rather than trying to fix the issues that are going on right
inside of their own homes. The world
would be a much more peaceful place if the people in it could just start seeing
the good in others rather than the bad.
My
life in America has always been full of diversity. I am almost unaware of how much diversity I
have encountered until I really sit down to think about it. I am lucky to be able to say that. To be able to say that I know and have
friends of different races, different preferences, different ideas and different
beliefs from mine is beautiful. The fact
that I have not been sheltered from people different from myself is a blessing
that oftentimes gets overlooked.
I grew up in a
diverse neighborhood; my favorite neighbors when I was little were not only
African-American, but also Jehovah's Witnesses.
Coming from a not-so religious family, I was always curious about theirs
and how they lived. I was taught early
on that there are going to be people unlike me in my life and that those
differences do not make me any better or worse.
I went to a decently diverse elementary school and an even more diverse
high school. There were never any racial
issues or any discrimination against people who were gay or lesbian. You were who you were and if you had a
problem or didn’t like certain people, it wasn’t because of where they were
born, it wasn’t because of their skin color, or their sexual preference; it was
merely because you didn’t like some part of their personality or something even
more miniscule like they stole your girlfriend/boyfriend. Going away to college wasn’t much different
than living in my hometown. I have a
diverse group of friends and I love every one of them just the same.
I
cannot draw upon any personal experiences that can be considered revealing or
suggestive about both my identity and American identity in general. My life story has been standard and I have
not encountered any “wow-ing” moments that have strengthened or weakened the
sense I have of my own identity or that of America as a whole. My American identities story is still in the
making. My moment has yet to come but it
will and I can almost be sure that it will come once I start teaching in a
classroom of my own.
I
chose to go to school to be a teacher because I want to make a difference. If a stranger were to ask anyone that knows
me why I want to be a teacher, the answer would come quickly and easily just
because of my personal identity. To be a
teacher, one must be a passionate, loving and thoughtful person. My personal opinions on American identities
come from the drive to teach children to see the good in others. Living in a country that is so often put down
for a variety of (mostly shallow) reasons, it can be difficult for some
children to see that they don’t fit into those categories and that they can
mold themselves into any kind of person that they choose to.
I
am going to teach children of diverse backgrounds and of different needs. I want to teach them that they are not dumb
just for being an American. I want to
teach them that they are capable and as long as they have a willingness to
learn, they will grow into a compassionate person. I want to teach children that their weight or
their level of extra-curricular activity cannot define them. Children need to understand that body image
is not everything and that physical beauty is temporary, while inner beauty is
permanent. Children grow up to be greedy
adults when they are not given the opportunity to give back to their neighbors
and to the world around them. American
children are not brought into this world being greedy. Outside factors influence that trait and as a
teacher, I will have ample opportunities to get my students to fall in love
with the act of sharing and giving. My
classroom will be accepting of everyone, no matter the differences in race,
heritage, or in socio-economic factors.
Every student is capable of learning and every child is deserving of
equal respect and love as their neighbor.
My personal
identity and my opinion on America’s identity are both solid when separated, I
just have not experienced a time where they have collided into one. These two will mesh once I am able to put my
hopes of goodness and my dreams of happiness into my students’ minds. Children’s identities are changing and being
molded every single day. Why not throw
away the dirty glasses that have been given to Americans and trade them in for
a clean pair of glasses to look through? America holds much more beauty than it’s being
given credit for. As I have firmly
stated before, the American stereotypes should and need to be changed. Teaching children to try to be the best
people they can be while seeking out the beauty in others will eventually turn
these negatives into positives. When it
comes down to it, it is the children of today that impact tomorrow’s future.
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