My Personal Identity

Personal identity is how a person feels about their self that forms over the course of their life. There are many factors influenced by culture that have made up my personal identity, such as, social class, ethnicity, religion, geographic location, and my educational experience. All of these have made an impact on my personality, values, motivation, and family influences. I will explain how being American, in the lower-middle social economical class, Caucasian, and living and receiving an education in Parma Ohio, has affected who I am today.
I. Social Economical Status In America we value rising socio-economic mobility. This means to move up on the hierarchy of economic status and social class. In America, the more money, the more power and
My sister and I were both able to attend college, thanks to financial aid, scholarships, and loans. I plan on becoming a teacher, my sister plans to become a biologist. We both want to give more to our future children, than what we were given. Mostly because in America, money defines what opportunities are given to you. If I make more money, I will be able to give my future children and myself a better neighborhood to live in, a better education, a better likely-hood of success. Even though as stated above, my opportunities weren’t drastically affected by our economic status because of programs that helped my family out, most of those programs are no longer going to going to be available in America due to Barack Obama no longer being in presidency. Programs like Medicaid and HEAP are already questioning being repealed. And since Americans also value independence, I want to be able to give myself and children better opportunities without having to depend on anyone or anything
Race and Ethnicity Being white in America, is being privileged. All though America’s declaration of independence states “all men are created equal”, origins of white supremacy still remain in America today, and makes being white in America a lot easier than being a different race. White American’s make up the racial majority, and can be known as the “dominant race”. Being white means having the exemption from discrimination, poverty, oppression, and racism in most cases. Just by being white, makes me more susceptible to a better education, income, and area code. I always knew being white meant I wouldn’t have to face many of the disadvantages that other races went through. In high school, I learned about racism, took a history class that taught oppression, but it wasn’t until college when I really saw how privileged I am to be white. Taking public transportation to Cleveland State University, I transfer through urban neighborhoods. I notice that a majority of these neighborhoods are filled with minorities. The buildings and housing of these areas are beat up, and dangerous, compared to suburban neighborhoods. When I began tutoring in majority African American inner-city elementary schools, I realized the difference of the quality of education these African American children were receiving compared to the type of education I received. Inner-city schools lack experienced teachers, college preparatory courses, funding, and motivation. Whereas majority white suburban schools