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2.1 Typical Maturer
As an African-American girl, I was considered "on time" to start developing at the right time although perhaps earlier than some of my other peers at school without it being precocious. During this year(9), I had began undergoing gonadarche, in which I noticed my breasts beginning to develop as well as eventually seeing pubic and underarm hair. I experienced a significant growth spurt in the fifth grade, when I was 10. If I had been late, I would definitely had succumbed to peer pressure more. -
4.2 - Non-gender typed Behavior
In 7th grade, I met my first consistent friend when he invited me to sit with him and another girl in the cafeteria one day. To my surprise, I later found out that he had far more girl than boy friends he talked to, and frequently engaged in prosocial behavior full of rapport talk, since he was more interested in making connections. He was seldom aggressive, and always self-disclosed personal info about himself to others in conversations. Still, he also had trouble regulating his emotions too. -
1.1 Entering Adolescence
I believe when I had my first shocker of the time of the month at age 12 I realized that I was developing into an adolescent. After that moment do I really recall being wary of hormonal changes, saw the signs of puberty affecting my height, shape and voice and thinking more abstractly and critically in my studies than I had before. I began questioning my sexuality while taking on school responsibilities such as joining the high school band in attempt to discover myself. -
8.1 - Rite of Passage
Although not a huge event like graduation, I'd say that my first cycle was like a rite of passage for me in that meant a transition to both adolescence and adulthood. I learned from my mother that I had to take more responsibilities in taking care of my body. I couldn't just be passive and think I was one of the guys, I had to have a gradual come-of-age to identity myself as a young woman. The "ceremony" was staying home from school and learning about this, but I'd pass this down to my daughter. -
3.1 Personal Fable
During my transition from middle to high school, I was having a personal fable moment with my mom about joining the marching band, because I personally thought it would take up too much of my time. My mom argued that I wasn't doing anything else other than school, so I had more time than I thought, yet I was invulnerable and adamant. I might've felt that way because I was entering the stage of abstact thinking, and wanted to do so much more ideally with my life than march up and down a field. -
7.1 - Transition to High School
With there being four grades of students compacted into a one-floor building, I definitely felt more intimidated and overwhelmed during most of my freshman year. I had experienced the top dog phenomenon in having less self-esteem and simply feeling "little" in comparison to the upperclassmen (especially since freshmen were always booed at the class competition pep rallies). Nonetheless, my high school experience was rich in the diversity it featured in the student body of culture and race. -
2.2 Niche-picking
The first environment I took advantage of in making friends was during my first year in high school, where I joined the marching band. Having the phenotype of many musicians from both sides of my family, I came to have an evocative gene environment correlation towards marching band having always loved music. I found myself niche-picking in which I preferred my band peers over my non-band peers and spent more time with them in and out of school. With our shared experiences, we were compatible. -
7.3 - Intrinsic Motivation
I was never fond of math and didn't particularly choose to excel in the subject unless it was required. My sophomore year I took geometry and didn't have a drive - until my overall grade dropped to a C. From that moment, I took more self-responsibility upon myself to stay after for tutoring with the teacher and strive to study for tests and review assignments. My mom was even surprised at my sudden self-determination to work harder for the class, and the flow of the course seemed easier. -
3.2 - Differentiation
More notably in high school when I started making a few more friends, I realized that I had multiple different "selves" that functioned like an on/off switch. My differentiation made it so that I was silly and calm at home with family, outgoing and bubbly with friends, and reserved and timid around large crowds, people I didn't know, and just during school in general. It seemed like the moment I entered a new situation(i.e. from friends to going to class), I'd immediately shift roles and mood. -
4.1 - Gender-typed Behavior
My cousin who is just 8 months younger than me I think is such a boy, and always has been. Matthew, my cousin, enjoys playing around with his group of guy friends, with topics revolving more around things (i.e. cars, websites). Though he's not one much to display aggression often, he struggles with regulating his emotions: either they come out uncontrollably all at once, or he hides it with nonchalance. When we talk, he mainly engages in report talk in telling me info of his experiences. -
6.1 - Parent Adolescent Conflict
I always struggled with keeping my room clean. When my family was expecting guests, my mom told my brothers and I to clean the house - including our rooms. She'd fuss at me on how I needed to pick my room up, but I was less compliant in my head. Logic seemed to interfere in my mind saying "Well Mom, your room isn't all that clean either", and I felt she was violating my expectations since I could find things in my room as is. With an everyday issue like this, she could stand to butt out, I felt. -
3.3 - Fluctuation
The ACT was coming up, and I was taking a prep course for the big test. Although the date gradually grew closer, I kept a level head about it, focused on my other schoolwork and was generally pretty confident. A friend of mine who took the prep course one day was talking to me about it and, trivial the topic as it was, I blew up in his face for no real reason. I was instantly embarrassed afterwards; I had no idea I was that stressed out about the ACT. Later that day, I apologized to him. -
6.2 - Companionship
In my junior year of high school, I met Alyssa Silvas, who was one of my classmates in my English class. Through group work pairings, we became regular partners who engaged in casual, positive discussions and spent some time outside of class together enjoying each other's company. We were also in NHS (National Honor Society) together for community service, and we worked collaboratively making blankets and pillows for young children and families who were left homeless after natural disasters. -
6.3 - Physical Support
In marching band, I was generally acquainted with an underdassman named Gabriel McCarroll, who was a prosocial, relaxed trombone player. As the year went on, it became inconvenient at times for him to be able to get rides after school home since his parents often worked. After catching up with me in the band room, I would accept his request for rides home, which became a routine every so often. I didn't mind driving him home those days, since he didn't live far from me and we had casual chats. -
1.2 Emerging Adulthood
Being 17 and going out of state to D.C. to college was a huge milestone for me in thinking I was on the road to become an adult and start being more independent of my decisions. Although I had high expectations and idealistic theories of being a revolutionary someday, I nonetheless struggled with instability of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Since I came to college, my friendships grew to include more people of diverse backgrounds and I'm more determined than ever. -
7.2 - Transition to College
With moving to D.C. to a deaf university, I definitely struggled with culture shock for a while. Though in the long run, I did truly recognize how much more independence, autonomy and freedoms in choice I had than high school. There was far more exploration that I took in what I wanted to do with my life, and my relationships became more diverse, as there's varying kinds of students here than I've ever encountered. Still, the stress of school work left me feeling depressed on several occasions.
