A person’s identity is formed under the influence of the environment. It is determined by various factors related to how a person perceives this world, interacts with people, and manifests itself throughout life. As an African American, Latino, and Japanese male, I grew up in a female environment with my mother, stepmother, and sister. I never felt any need; our economy class was Upper Middle Class (Bhatt & Pujar, 2020). My educational background is Homeschooled by my mother at Tennessee State University. Since she received a good education, she can pass all the necessary knowledge for life to me. Mother has a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at the University of California Berkeley along with a master’s in Business Administration. Our family is Buddhist by religion, which has never limited me in social interactions, so I belonged to the United Service Organization for some time. It is a mentoring for the children of the military to stay focused and not go astray. This experience also influenced me and contributed to the development of my personality.
I did not have a childhood neighborhood, as my parents moved due to work. Most of my friends were children of the military, but thanks to such circumstances, I had the opportunity to get to know different parts of the world, “to understand and respect different cultures.” (Sanford, 2017, p. 23) The biggest culture shock for me was facing racism due to my dark skin (Davenport, 2020). In South Korea, where my mother worked, I was not even allowed to enter certain places, and the police stopped me several times because of suspicions of theft. However, when they saw that my mother was in the military, they immediately changed their attitude. Numerous situations have influenced my personality and made me worry about inequality. This changed my views; therefore, my political affiliation is nonpartisan; I believe that it is necessary to strive for equality regarding race, gender, social class, and other identities. The totality of all the factors and experiences that I faced made me who I am now and shaped my identity.
References
Bhatt, M., & Pujar, L. (2020). Influence of Self-Concept and Parenting on Adolescents Identity Development. IAHRW International Journal of Social Sciences Review, 8(4-6), 158-160.
Davenport, L. (2020). The fluidity of racial classifications. Annual Review of Political Science, 23, 221-240.
Sanford, N. (2017). Self and society: Social change and individual development. Transaction Publishers.