Throughout my life I have continuously been altering my identity. The person I am now is not exactly the same person I was 10 years ago or even four years ago. However, all of these various versions of me molded together are what complete me and make me… well me!
Building on a Foundation
On July 28th, 2003, the day I took my very first breath into the world, I began building on a foundation.
It is this same foundation that remains constant at the core of my identity. In other words, what makes me unique compared to others is based on my behaviors, values, and skills which are located at my core. At this core are also my memories, both the good and the bad, rather the moments that have played key roles in my adaptation as a fully actualized individual.
My given identity consists of things outside of my control, so my name my parents gave me, where I was born, and my physical attributes such as my brown hair and eyes, my smile, my freckles, my “toe” thumbs, etc..
My chosen identity includes the characteristics that I personally choose to acquire, such as my job, where I go to college, who I associate myself with, how I dress, etc..
At any given moment I can decide to change aspects of my identity, both chosen and some given elements.
In my opinion, I believe that growth is a vital part of an individual’s social identity. This identity growth is something universal that all members of society will most likely experience throughout their lifetime, whether they are aware of it or not.
Identities are what makeup the individual members of the world we live in. You see, not one person on Earth is the same at their core, and to me, that is truly something beautiful.
Age as a Dimension of Diversity Throughout My Lifetime
There are specifically eight dimensions of diversity that compose an individual’s identity: ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class. For me, age has always been a big part of my identity. Age is a part of my given identity and is something that cannot be adjusted.
As the youngest of 4, my childhood consisted of being dragged along to many soccer tournaments, musical performances, camps, basketball tournaments, choir concerts, practices, and whatever else my siblings had going on. Because of this, I craved the chance to experience what they were doing instead of just being a bystander. Evidently, I was eager to grow up, although I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. In fact, it exposed me, at a young age, to all the different hobbies and activities that I too would one day be able to try out for myself.
Furthermore, being a July baby meant my birthday falls right in between two grades. That being said, I had the option to be considered young for my grade or be one of the older kids in my grade. When the time came for me to start kindergarten, my mom had decided to put me in the grade that would place me on the younger side of my peers, and boy to this day am I so happy she did.
Now, as I am 19-years-old, about to be a junior in college, I’ve never wanted anything more than to slow down time and stay at this age forever. As friends and acquaintances around me begin turning twenty-one, graduating from college, moving cities, completing internships, and studying abroad, I have never been so conscious of my age and what it means.
All my life I always felt “too young” and now as I am about to be twenty I have never felt more “too old.”
That’s the thing about age, sometimes we let it define our identity way too much instead of embracing it. Life is too short to allow a singular (I guess technically double!) number to shape it for you.
The older I get, the older my loved ones around me get and the more real life becomes. If I could, I would do anything to be that sunkissed, brown eyed little girl, wearing her brother’s jersey, with two big pig tails in her hair, baking on the sidelines of a soccer field with no care in the world just one more time.
All in all, one thing is for sure, that same little girl cheering along her older brother is still somewhere rooted deep inside me at my core, a part of me that has been perpetually layered on top of over the past 19 years.