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Born
Beginnings - Normal healthy birth -
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FIrst Year
The first Two Years: Biosocial Development - Cared for and breastfed by stay-at-home mother -
First Word
The First Two Years: Cognitive Development - First word: dada -
New Primary Caregiver
The first Two Years: Psychosocial Development - My mother went back to work and my paternal grandparents became my primary caregivers. I showed indications of secure attachment as I was upset when my mother left me, but quickly settled in and moved on. I was excited when my mother picked me up. -
Learned to Ride a Bike
Early Childhood: Biosocial Development - I learned how to ride a bike without training wheels at the time when most children are learning to ride tricycles (Berger, 2014, p. 220). I was a precocious child and I was determined to do “grown up” things and not “baby” things. -
Began Preschool
Early Childhood: Cognitive Development - I attended preschool at a parochial school. The lead teacher identified that I may be more suited to attending the local gifted and talented program. She informed my parents of her observations, but they declined to have me tested to enter the school, thinking that I would receive a good education at the parochial school. -
Parenting Style and Discipline
Early Childhood: Psychosocial Development – I consider both my parents and my grandparents who took care of me to have had authoritative parenting styles. They say that the most effective punishment for me was not a time out, but if they instead walked away and ignored me after I had done something wrong (I think they told me what it was I did wrong first and then said that they couldn’t talk to me for a while). Being denied attention quickly changed my problematic behavior. -
School Sports
Middle Childhood: Biosocial Development – I was a healthy child and I enjoyed being active, but I hated competitive sports or playing group sports in gym class. I was very shy and worried that I would be embarrassed if I made a mistake while playing a sport and the other children would ridicule me. I avoided organized sports and tried to get out of gym whenever I could so that I wouldn’t risk embarrassment. -
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Bored at School
Middle Childhood: Cognitive Development – Schoolwork was easy for me and I was often bored. Because of this I started to hate going to school and became very resistant to going. I gave my parents a very hard time by refusing to go to school. I could not articulate the cause of the problem and just said that I hated school. My parents did not know what to do. This continued until I was in sixth grade and changed schools. -
Bullying
Middle Childhood: Psychosocial Development – I was teased about being a bookworm and I began to tease other classmates in order to make myself feel better. I remember feeling accomplished when I made a girl in my class cry. -
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Religion in Highschool
Adolescence: Cognitive Development – I went to high school in a relatively conservative area and my group of friends included a few very religiously conservative people. I was raised a very liberal Catholic and I constantly found myself in debates about religion during high school. My beliefs were on the edge of acceptable for some of my friends. They tried to convert me. Liberal religion became a defining thing for me at that point in my life. It gave me a chance to think about my own beliefs. -
Sexual Activity
Adikescence: Biosocial Development - I had sex for the first time when I had just turned 15. I was dating my first serious girlfriend who was a year older than me. She pressured me into it and I gave in as a sort of birthday present to her. She had told me that she was experienced, but knew that I was not. I have always thought that she was lying and that it was her first time too. I don’t regret that we had sex, but I wish that we had waited until we were a little bit older. -
Drug Use
Adolescence: Psychosocial Development – I began to experiment with drugs and alcohol in my senior year of high school. It was not intense usage, but when I had parties with my friends we frequently used. My parents never knew. If they did I would have been in a lot of trouble. -
A year off
Emerging Adulthood: Biosocial Development – I felt very stressed out and lost after I graduated high school. I was burnt out and possibly depressed after trying very hard to succeed in school. I contemplated joining the military, but ultimately I decided to take a year off and try to figure out what to do with myself and try to escape from the pressure of school. My parents were not very happy with my decision not to do something that they considered productive. -
Religion and Faith
Emerging Adulthood: Cognitive Development – I spent a lot of time thinking about religion and faith. I became less religious and more spiritual. I spent time in individual spiritual pursuits that did not really conform to any organized religion. I believe that I was entering stage 4, the individual-reflective faith. -
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The Navy
Emerging Adulthood: Psychosocial Development – I enlisted in the navy in 2009, and this became my vocational identity. I was primarily stationed in San Diego, but I had one 7 month deployment that took me to 11 different countries. Being in the navy was a big part of my identity for that time in my life, but ultimately it was not a good fit for me. I left after I had served the required 4 years. -
Intelligence
Adulthood: Cognitive Development – I feel that I am more capable now, and possibly smarter, as an adult than I did as a young adult. I think that some of this is related to going back to school. But I also think that I have developed good emotional, social, and creative intelligence as well which contribute to a higher overall intelligence than I previously possessed. -
Relationships and Intamacy
Adulthood: Psychosocial Development – I have a great group of friends now that I am close with. Some are entering college later in life like me, and others have careers and families. We encourage each other and help one another navigate our problems. I also have a good relationship with my parents and my brother who is a young adult and in college. I feel that my relationship with my family is the best it has ever been. -
Health
Adulthood: Biosocial Development – I am much less active now than I have been previously in my life and I have gained weight since leaving the military. I spend most of my time doing school work or relaxing and not enough time eating right and exercising. I know that if this trend continues I risk becoming overweight or obese later in adulthood. -
Retirement
Late Adulthood: Psychosocial Development - I will be 60 this year, and I hope to be able to retire close to this point in my life. I do not want to spend all of my late adulthood working. I hope to have a wife and grown children at this time, and I would like to be able to have the time and resources to travel and spend time with grandchildren. It will take careful financial planning, but hopefully my wife and I can retire together and enjoy the last phase of our lives. -
Health Problems
Late Adulthood: Biosocial Development - I will be 65 this year, and could be a critical age regarding my possible physical health. Both of my grandfathers died of heart attacks when they were not much older than 65. While it is unclear how much of the risk of cardiovascular disease is related to primary or secondary aging, I hope that I can be disciplined in my efforts to lead a healthy lifestyle so that I can lower my risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease. -
Dimentia?
Late Adulthood: Cognitive Development - I will be 70 this year, and along with physical decline, I now have a larger risk of cognitive decline. There are instances of Alzheimer Disease (AD) and dementia on my mother’s side of the family. I have watched someone who had AD decline, and I hope that I never develop this disease. I support the right to choose your own death, and I hope that this is an option for me if I am ever facing this, or other degenerative diseases. -
Death
Epilogue: Death and Dying – The life expectancy calculator predicted that I would die at age 86, but I gave myself a few more years as I am committed to improving my unhealthy habits. I do not have a defined belief in an afterlife currently, but I would like to have a Catholic funeral, that is how I was raised and it seems fitting to end my life in that tradition. I will have a living will and my family will be aware of my wishes, such as having a DNR order. I hope that they respect my decisions
