COLL 150 - What Shapes a person's identity and how has it shaped mine?

Hello again! In my last blog entry I talked about who I am and my new identity as a college student. In today's entry I will discuss what shape's a person's identity and how it has shaped mine. I believe that one's identity is shaped by a lot of factors such as family, culture, the media, and societal expectation and these factors influence how we act towards others and ourselves. As mentioned previously, extracurricular activities such as modeling, track and field, and volleyball have helped me to Zoom out and see myself beyond just classwork. I’ve learned about what I like, what I don’t like, how to communicate with others, and how to apply these lessons to my everyday life and experiences. Now that I enter my freshman year of college, the question I’m always asked is “What do you want to study?”. Four years ago, I would've said something like “I want to be on tv”. Our beliefs about the world and our actual experiences shape our values, which in turn form our identity. Our identity is simply a collection of moments and happenings of our lives. Everyone of us has a story to tell. And our actions determine who we want to become. Now I could rant about how these experiences shaped me, but now I ask myself who do I want to be. Motivation is bolstered and boosted by courage, confidence, commitment, clarity, and challenge. These empower me to overcome the inevitable roadblocks to reaching my dreams and aspirations. Whatever my aims may be, they need to be nurtured to their fullest potential through the engine of inspired action.