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Drue Benefield was born.
I was born the day after Halloween in 1996. My mom went into labor when she was out Christmas shopping, and I was born later that night around 10 PM.
The photo shown here is me with my grandparents on the day I was born. -
Infancy: Cognitive Development
As an infant, by definition I was in the sensorimotor stage of Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development. One aspect, according to my parents, that I displayed a lot was a lack of object permanence. They played "peek-a-boo" with me often, and it was very funny to them to see how excited I would get when they uncovered their faces. I got so excited because I literally believed they were reappearing before my eyes, and disappearing when they covered their face. -
Infancy: Emotional Development
As an infant, I was securely attached to both of my caregivers: my mom and my dad. They helped me to explore my environment by asking questions and actively playing with me. I was always happy to see either of them after they had been absent for a while, and a positive interaction was always established upon their return. My parents tell me that often whenever they were just around me I would crawl into their laps instinctively instead of sitting on my own which would cause me to smile more. -
Infancy: Emotional Development
As an infant, my parents describe my temperament as good overall, but there were the occasional mood swings that they would have to deal with. Based on Chess and Thomas' classification of temperament, I would have fallen under the "easy child" category because I had a normal routine that I would rarely break, I had a positive most of the time, and I looked at new experiences as exciting. However, I was not the perfect "easy child" because I had my problems and outbursts which are normal. -
Infancy: Physical Development
11 months old (according to my mother) -
Drue Benefield became the middle child of 3 girls.
My little sister was born, making me the middle child between my older sister Darbey and my younger sister Dalton. -
Early Childhood: Cognitive Development
As an early child, by definition I was in the preoperational stage which is characterized by beginning to represent the world with words and images. Children in this stage are unable to pass conservation tasks, but the ultimate end goal is to learn how to. The best thing I can remember during this stage is learning how to undo and redo actions mentally. Specific examples of this includes learning to add and subtract. -
Early Childhood: Cognitive Development
As a child, I was very interested in animals. My toys were primarily comprised of stuffed animals and animal figurines. I did, however, show extensive interest in dolls as well. I feel as though my interest in dolls was primarily due to influence from my older sister because those were the types of toys she had and I wanted to play with her all the time. This loosely fits with the research on children concept formation and categorization because it includes a few aspects, but not all of them. -
Early Childhood: Cognitive Development
As a child my mother and grandmother in particular would often engage in active reading with me. I specifically remember one instance in which I was reading "The Cat in the Hat" to my grandmother, and I was only able to do it because I had memorized it from the countless number of times I had heard it. My grandmother quickly picked up on the fact that I wasn't actually reading, and sat me down to ask me which words lined up with what I was saying. -
Early Childhood: Emotional Development
My temperament as a child was not very different from my temperament as an infant. Overall I was still an "easy child" because of my positive attitude and ability to stick to a schedule, but there were still occasional ups and downs that required my parents to discipline me and that may have caused stress to them. I never got in trouble at school, and my teachers never had any issues with me misbehaving or outbursting in class. I think in school, I was much more of a textbook "easy child." -
Middle/Late Childhood: Physical Development
I was very active in middle/late childhood. I was involved in dance classes, karate classes, and a I was on a softball team. Every day of the week I had some sort of obligation to one of the previously mentioned activities in addition to school. Sometimes I even had multiple obligations in one day. These activities are sources of many happy/fun memories for me because not only did I enjoy the activity itself, but I made many friends in the process as well. -
Middle/Late Childhood: Cognitive Development
In middle/late childhood, by definition I was in the concrete operational stage. At this point I was able to pass conservation tasks, think about things logically, and classify or divide objects into different sets. The earliest memory I have that really defines me during this stage would be how I used to divide my toys into categories when I was having to clean up. I would put the stuffed animals in one bin, the barbie dolls in another bin, and I even separated them based on how old they were. -
Middle/Late Childhood: Cognitive Development
When I was in 5th grade, I was placed in an enrichment program for gifted students. It was the first time I was separated from the other students based on a higher level of intelligence, and it made me feel like I was capable of accomplishing more because I was considered "smart." I remained in the enrichment program all throughout elementary school which helped place me in advanced and honors classes in middle school and high school. -
Middle/Late Childhood: Physical Development
The majority of the activities I did in this period involved gross motor movements, especially with karate and softball. Actions such as throwing a punch or swinging a bat involve large muscle contractions and not a lot of finer/controlled movements. Dance, however, did involve a combination of both gross and fine motor skills for moving the body in space (gross) and looking "soft" (fine). -
Adolescence: Physical Development
I was a very early bloomer, and I started puberty much earlier than the vast majority of my peers. I believe I had just turned 11 when I first got my period. It was very confusing for me because I had not had any sort of education on what puberty was due to my age. I had to ask my mom all of the awkward questions usually answered in health class. I think that starting puberty early helped lead to self-confidence issues/depression because of the sense that I was "different" very early on. -
Adolescence: Cognitive Development
During adolescence, by definition I was in the formal operational stage. This stage is defined as being able to think in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways. Some people never actually make it to this stage, but I believe I made it to this stage quite easily because I can think of specific examples of me demonstrating this behavior. I demonstrated adolescent egocentrism and imaginary audience very prominently. I remember that I used to get so upset about pimples because of judgement. -
Adolescence: Physical Development
Up until I was about 17 I was very involved in dance. I would take 2-3 hour classes 4 days a week, and it involved very vigorous exercise and core strength training. Dance was a form of physical exercise that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I have many happy memories from being involved with dance. Dance was, however, the only form of exercise I got during this time. All the other previous activities mentioned in childhood I had stopped by this time in my life due to increased school responsibilities. -
Adolescence: Physical Development
Dance involved a large combination of both gross and fine motor skills. While you were engaging in movements that required the large muscles of the legs and arms to move the body around (gross motor skills), at the same time you were having to do intricate muscle work such as pointing your toes or keeping your fingers looking "soft" (fine motor skills). The combination of the two types of motor skills helped me to become very aware of my body and how it looked when I was moving. -
Adolescence: Emotional Development
During adolescence, I believe that friend relationships were very important to me. However, there is one relationship that sticks out in my mind as being the "most important" in terms of how it impacted me overall. The relationship I had with my first "real" boyfriend during my sophomore year of high school lasted a long time and taught me what it meant to really care for another person. Sternberg would have described this as consummate love because passion, intimacy, and commitment were present -
Drue Benefield graduated from high school
I graduated from Vestavia Hills High School in the top 1/3rd of my class. -
Early Adulthood: Physical Development
Now that I have reached adulthood, I have a lot less time for physical activity. The majority of my time is spent at school and/or studying for my classes. Any free time I have is spent either at work, in the research lab I am currently involved in, or volunteering at the humane society. I would say my level of physical activity is low to moderate. I work a job that requires a lot of endurance, and volunteering with animals involves some physical activity, but I have no exercise plan. -
Early Adulthood: Physical Development
As mentioned previously, my exercise level currently is low to moderate. However, my job as a PCT in UAB's ER and Trauma Center requires that I be able to walk long distances, push/lift heavy loads, do CPR for extended periods of time, etc. All of these movements are defined as gross motor movements, but I am also responsible for certain activities that involve finger dexterity (fine motor movements) such as sticking someone with a needle for drawing blood or placing electrodes on the body. -
Early Adulthood: Cognitive Development
Like in adolescence, I am currently in the formal operational stage. I believe that I have moved past adolescent egocentrism and imaginary audience, even though sometimes I still feel insecure. The aspect of this stage that I see myself using the most is hypothetical-deductive reasoning to decide the best path to take in school and social aspects. I do it much more constructively than I did in adolescence in the sense that it's no longer about what to wear, but education/career choices. -
Early Adulthood: Emotional Development
In my life now I would say that the closest relationship I have is with my parents because they are my support network and the only stable source of love that I know will absolutely never disappear no matter what issues may arise. This type of attachment style is considered secure because the relationship between my parents and I is much more positive than it is negative, and I am confident in it being stable and lifelong. I can't imagine being secure in my life without them. -
Early Adulthood: Emotional Development
In my life now as a single young adult, I think the most important form of love would be affectionate love because I believe this is the type of love I feel for the most important people in my life: my family. While I do believe the other types of love are important, and sometimes I wish I had those types of love in my life, I think that a deep connection and being comfortable with each other is important in establishing a support network that is needed to keep me emotionally stable.
