Personal Narrative: My Sense Of Identity

Identity
Identity is achieved by weaving together different parts of the self. It is an arrangement of threads such as gender, ethnicity, religion et cetera, together to make you, you. Some of these things you have no control over, like gender, but threads such as religion and education, you have the ability to change should you so choose and because of this identity feels very personal. However, it is, in fact, social. Identity is formed in social and environmental contexts which make it fluid, non-physical and created through social interaction. A brilliant example of such fluidity is in my religious background; I was raised in a heavily religious environment and because of this, as a child, I identified myself by the religion to which I
was raised. As I grew older social and environmental influences such as school and my friends, influenced and adapted my religious identity to Atheist by which I currently identify.

Context
Context is a crucial concept that continually affects the fluidity of the self by actively impacting the adaptation of your identity. Context can be anything ranging from political to social, historical to familial and everything in between; it is the environment that builds the foundations for your identity threads and aids in their construction. In this way, context is a factor that is entirely intertwined with the notion of identity. Ethnicity is a compelling context that has a direct impact on myself personally. I identify as New Zealand European even though my mother is Spanish and my father, English. The reason I identify this way is because New Zealand is the environment I was raised in and it is where I hold citizenship.

Citizenship
Communities are essential building blocks when it comes to the construction of the self as it contributes a great deal to your sense of identity.
One way to understand membership within a community is as citizenship. Citizenship is influenced by a range of different forces; political being the most predominant as citizenship commonly refers to as a membership of a country holding the corresponding passport. In this way it extends to more than just a community, it is rights and duties you have in exchange for your membership to your national community such as legal, political, social and participatory rights. Not all citizens are entitled to the same rights often it depends on your identity threads, for example; to study at a tertiary level in NZ, you must fit the entry criteria, failing that you cannot join a University even though education is a right. Being a NZ citizen does not automatically give you the right to tertiary study. Therefore, my identity as a student gives me the right to attend University. Because identity can alter your rights as a citizen of a particular community, citizenship is socially constructed, contextual and fluid much like the
self.

Participation
Participation is predominantly about actions and behaviours individuals exhibit in social environments and whether or not they involve themselves but it is also about how I am heard and in this way it is a consequence of citizenship. Participation has strong connections to the concepts of citizenship and belonging; the more you feel you belong to a particular group or community, the more comfortable you will feel taking part in social conventions. Participation in any social context can be formal like voting or informal like a social sports team; it is about being involved, getting active in your community and having a strong say in what happens. I moved into a new area just recently, and I received an invitation in the mail to have dinner with all of the people who lived on my street. My participation in this event was important in developing my sense of belonging in that area.

Belonging
Belonging depends on the other four key concepts.
Citizenship, for example, fosters a sense of belonging by not only including individuals in social conventions that require participation but also by allowing individuals the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else. Having a sense of belonging also depends on your sense of self and knowing your identity, being comfortable enough within yourself to participate in your community and practice your rights and responsibilities as a member of that community. A gym is a social hub; many individuals go to the gym daily so when I joined the gym, being unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the equipment and not knowing anybody didn’t give me an unyielding sense of
belonging.