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Inferiority vs Industry: Failing her Third Grade Test
Christina (age 8) lives with her mom, who is a janitor at night and aesthetician by day, and 3 cousins of varying ages. Instead of being rewarded for being curious and asking lots of questions, she is encouraged to keep a low profile and be as independent as possible. She is not being taught addition, subtraction or writing at home like some of her peers and therefore she is relatively behind. She is starting to feel inferior and lesser than her peers. -
Identity vs. Role Confusion: Dropping Out of School
When Christina turned 16 she decided to leave school. She had been failing classes for a long time and her identity was not of a successful student and she didn't identify with the goals that school was setting for her. When she stopped going to school and started working at a fast food shop she felt productive and like she fit in to their expectations better since she was an industrious worker. Dropping out enabled her to resolve her identity crisis. -
Intimacy vs. Isolation: Christin'as Engagement
After several months of dating her boyfriend, Christina became pregnant when she was 21. She and her boyfriend got engaged and the meaning behind their engagement, to be parents, forced her to bring down walls she had kept up in previous relationships. She allowed herself to be vulnerable, cooperative and emotionally intimate with her fiance.
