Journal

Alexandro Sanchez
Concept - Identity vs role confusion (Peer Relationship) Just the word “adolescence” raises all sorts of feelings and images for most people because of the unpredictable time it represents. This stage is called Identity vs. Role Confusion; and for me it was a period of time that was defined by confusion within my mind and body. It was a journey to find out who I really was in this world. In trying to develop my identity, or lack of identity, I would either choose loyalties and promises or I would steer clear of them. I made these choices because I was confused about what I truly believed in. Being able to separate what I personally wanted and needed proved to be extremely tough since I was constantly concerned about how I appeared to other people. To this day, some part of me still deals with this internal battle. But I think that is normal, to a certain extent. When I was younger I had a speech disorder that I still occasionally struggle with to this day. Not being able to control this stuttering problem when I was younger made me an easy target to my fellow peers. This was extremely discouraging and made it hard for me to talk to people, because I feared that I would be made fun of. This went on for a few years, but after a while I slowly built up the courage to talk a little more each day. Soon, my friends could not get me to shut up because of how well I am now able to control my speech disorder.

Concept - Generativity vs Stagnation (Parenting)
Parenting is something I find very interesting - not that I want kids anytime soon. I just find that it is remarkable to observe the different ways parents “think” are the best way to raise a child. I definitely do not have some ultimate formula about raising kids, but sometimes I think the things people do with their children are downright comical. The main point that I got from the readings all comes down to really one simple question. (Can I make my life count?) The concerns we should have about the responsibility of guiding the next generation. Socially-valued work and disciplines are terms of generativity. Simply having or wanting children does not achieve generativity; contributing to society and helping to guide future generations does. At least that is what I got from it. I think about this a lot because of what I went through in my past. When I was eleven years old, I was diagnosed with leukemia. Leukemia being cancer of the blood cells; the bone marrow starts to make a lot of abnormal white blood cells, called leukemia cells. They don't do the work of normal white blood cells, they grow faster than normal cells, and they don't stop growing when they should. Going through this experience changed my perspective on life completely. I strongly believe that things happen for a reason, good or bad. That being said, I still have questions about my purpose and responsibility to this world. Why am I alive? Am I going to be a good parent? What is my legacy? I know these are not questions a twenty-three year old should be asking himself; but if I survived cancer, there must be a reason behind it.

Concept – Personality A person’s personality acts as a great window into understanding people and their lives. Personality traits touch every person in the world. We make choices about what to wear, eat, do on the weekends, what type of music to listen to, and even what to watch on television. There are many different personality models, such as the Big Five, to identify a person’s personality type. The Big Five includes openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. If I had to decide which one of these I would be, I would consider myself conscientious, agreeable, open to experiences, and extroverted. I would not be neurotic. Personality traits also highlight the long-term characteristics that make up a person’s behavior, and thus his or her personality. Values are related to personality, but tend to be more specific to belief systems instead of social feelings. This could simply mean that large portions of the values we embrace are taught to us when we are younger and stay with us for life. The link between personality and genetics entails some kind of link between personality and values. Values provide the basis for our understanding of other people’s attitudes and motivations. Our values then in turn affect our perception, which has an influence on our decision-making cycle. However, decision-making can be enhanced and influenced by our experiences, maturity, and knowledge. Even though my opinions are pretty solid at the moment, I know that my opinions will change and so will my perspectives. The older I get, the more differently I will see things. I am sure that these personal developments will transform the type of person that I am, but I think that is healthy. The people that I have a great deal in common with now, I may grow apart from later because of my changing opinions and thoughts. As time passes, people change and so do their personalities. These interchanges are inevitable.